Manila, Feb 27 (IANS) Philippine police have rescued a 14-year-old foreign student who was kidnapped on February 20 after attending classes at a school in Metro Manila, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said.
Local authorities said on Wednesday that the victim was found abandoned in the middle of a busy street in Paranaque city on Tuesday night, and was immediately brought to a hospital for medical examination.
Remulla added that the parents rejected the ransom demand but the Chinese-led kidnappers, who included former Filipino police officers and soldiers, abandoned the 14-year-old in the middle of a busy street in metropolitan Manila when police closed in on their vehicle.
Police said the kidnappers killed the boy’s driver and cut off his right little finger in a bid to force his family to pay a huge ransom.
The Interior Secretary told reporters that the student’s family and the Chinese leader of the kidnappers were allegedly former operators of lucrative online gambling outfits, which flourished under former President Rodrigo Duterte but were ordered closed last year by his successor, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Remulla said no ransom was paid.
The online gambling outfits, which operated in the Philippines, Cambodia and other south-east Asian countries, have catered to large numbers of clients in China, where gambling is prohibited.
“We know that this crime involved a Chinese against a Chinese,” Remulla said, adding that the student’s family and the kidnappers communicated in Chinese via the WeChat app.
After the closure of illegal gambling outfits in the Philippines, some turned to other crimes, including kidnapping, he said.
In a bid to pressure the student’s family to pay a ransom of $20 million dollars (£15.8 million), which was later reduced to one million dollars (£790,000), the kidnappers cut off the tip of the small finger in the victim’s right hand and sent a video of the gruesome act to his parents, he added.
The boy’s driver was killed and later found in an abandoned vehicle, where crucial evidence, including mobile phone numbers, was found.
The suspects apparently tried to leave the vehicle in a haste, Remulla said.
Officials said online cryptocurrency sites, love and investment scams remained a threat.
Local media reported that the kidnapping marks the eighth case this year.
Five cases have been fully resolved, while the three remaining cases are still under investigation.
–IANS
int/khz
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