Three Indian nationals have been arrested for allegedly kidnapping three of their compatriots at Suvarnabhumi airport early last month to shake down the victims' families for ransom money, police said.
Mohammed Qadeer Khan, 41, Syed Ahson Ali, 44, and a man identified only as Salman, 47, were initially charged with the kidnapping for ransom and physical assault by torture of Shaikh Rajib Hossain, Sabbir Ahmed and Ziaul Hossain.
Authorities were alerted to the kidnapping on July 22 by Jishanuddin Mondal, who filed a complaint with Suvarnabhumi airport police that his brother-in-law, Shaikh Rajib Hossain, and the two others were abducted from the airport on July 7.
According to Mr Mondal, the victims arrived at the airport on July 7 on Jet Airways Flight 9W 060 at 6pm. They were supposed to meet someone at the airport before they boarded another flight to Canada for work. They lost contact after arriving at the airport.
On July 11, Mr Mondal received a mysterious call instructing him to transfer 1.5 million baht to a bank account in India as ransom to secure the release of the three. He then travelled to Thailand to seek help.
Police reviewed surveillance footage from the arrivals lounge and found the three victims following a man identified later as Mr Ali to Exit 4. They got in a black Toyota pick-up truck with a Chachoengsao licence plate driven by another man.
As the police were tracking down the vehicle, Mr Mondal returned to the Suvarnabhuni airport station on Saturday to tell the police that he was contacted by his relative who said he had been dumped in Cambodia, about 500 metres from the Thai border in Sa Kaeo's Aranyaprathet district.
The victims claimed they were hit with a baseball bat and tortured while held captive. They were apparently released after the family paid part of the ransom.
They were picked up by a Cambodian taxi driver and later taken to Suvarnabhuni airport station for questioning.
Police traced the suspected vehicle to Mr Qadeer Khan, who ran a second-hand-car dealership in Chon Buri's Muang district. The three suspects were later arrested in Pattaya.
According to police, the suspects also implicated two other Indian nationals in the kidnapping. They were both identified as job brokers.