Abduction gone wrong
Bumbling kidnappers abduct wrong man, release him when they realise mistake
A group of kidnappers botched an abduction when they bundled the wrong man into their car in broad daylight in Kuala Lumpur.
They realised their mistake a few minutes into the getaway and let the man go, reported The Star.
The victim, Mr R. Karunakaran, 59, was watering his plants outside his home in the town of Kepong Baru at around 8.30am on Tuesday when a man approached him.
"He asked if I was selling the lorry parked outside my house, but he was acting very strangely so I slowly backed away.
"Suddenly, another man grabbed me and pushed me behind the lorry. I tried to struggle, but they had a parang on my neck," he said.
The men took Mr Karunakaran's gold chain, then shoved him into a Proton Waja and sped off.
Said Mr Karunakaran at a press conference yesterday: "They told me they were going to kill me and that there was a RM150,000 (S$50,000) price on my head."
PHONE CALL
However, a few minutes into what he thought was "the last ride of my life", one of the kidnappers received a phone call, he said.
"I heard him saying, 'Oh, we got the wrong guy'. The man they were after lived in house No. 8, my house is No. 1," he said.
He said the kidnappers quickly stopped the car and pushed him out of the vehicle before driving off.
"Three of them wore masks while the one who first approached me did not," he said.
He added that police have alerted all the houses with No. 8 in their addresses to be more cautious.
Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng, who was at the press conference, said that the recent trend of kidnapping cases in the news is worrying.
"The public should be more alert and quickly inform the police if they see anything suspicious," he said.
Sentul OCPD Assistant Commissioner R. Munusamy said a check on the car's licence plate showed that it was bogus.
"Anyone with information on this case should contact the police immediately," he said.
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