Sri Lankan kidnapping victim dies in Malaysia
August 31, 2010 07:49 am
A Sri Lankan tourist
died fleeing kidnappers in Malaysia while a friend escaped and another was
rescued by police, the force said on Tuesday.
The three had just
arrived on holiday and to sell gemstones worth 40,000 ringgit $US12,736
($A14,278) when they were abducted last week at Kuala Lumpur International
Airport, district police chief Abdul Rahim Abdullah said.
“The three were trying
to get a cheap ride to the city but were instead led into a van and kidnapped
by four people and taken to a flat in the suburbs,” he told AFP.
“The men were held for
ransom and one of them managed to escape their captors on Sunday morning but one
died in the escape bid,” he said.
Mohammad Mihilar, 32,
the tourist who escaped, told the New Straits Times he and his two friends,
whom he identified as Samsudeen and Sarifdeen, were tortured during the
three-day ordeal to get family details so that a ransom could be demanded.
“We were beaten and
tortured for three days and were not given any food or water for refusing to
give them the contact details of our families in Sri Lanka,” he told the paper.
“They used masks as
they assaulted us with iron rods, water hose and hot iron,” Mohammad said.
He said the kidnappers
took the gemstones and demanded a $US35,000 ($A39,240) ransom from their
captives’ families.
“As I was heading to
the toilet, I turned around and kicked the kidnapper before running out of the
flat. I ran up to the rooftop of the flat and jumped off to escape,” he added.
Mohammad broke a leg
in the fall but said Samsudeen, who had jumped out of an open window, fell to
his death.
Mohammad raised the
alarm and police rescued Sarifdeen, who was found handcuffed in the flat.
“We have arrested two
persons and one is believed to be a volunteer in the reserve police and we are
on the lookout for two others believed to be involved in the kidnapping,” Abdul
Rahim said.
“Police are still investigating the case but we do not believe the kidnappers were part of any syndicate operating at the airport as it appears to be an opportunistic crime.”
AFP
