Two more Chinese suspects caught over kidnapping

Zhang Delong, 30, was arrested by police on Nov 2 along with his younger brother. (Police photo)
Zhang Delong, 30, was arrested by police on Nov 2 along with his younger brother. (Police photo)

Two more Chinese suspects allegedly involved in a businessman's kidnapping in Pattaya were arrested on Tuesday.

The alleged victim, a 40-year-old Chinese national named Ren Haibo, was kidnapped for a 35-million-baht ransom demanded by Zhang "Da Dao" Delong, 30, and Zhang "A Tang" Wenjia, 27, both of whom were charged with unlawful detention.

Both suspects allegedly admitted to the crime, saying that they had a conflict with the victim over money generated by call centre scams.

According to the investigation, Da Dao was the last person Mr Ren saw before going missing, and A Tang was listed as the renter of the house where he was held captive in Bang Lamung.

Mr Ren told his Thai girlfriend on Oct 29 that he had a conversation with Da Dao and sent her the address where the conversation took place.

The abductors demanded a ransom from Mr Ren's family, and the family transferred cryptocurrency worth nearly 150,000 baht to the abductors.

Mr Ren's girlfriend alerted the police after losing contact with him after the ransom was transferred.

The victim was tortured and had his little finger cut off, but managed to free himself despite being tied up and escaped from the house on Oct 31.

The police found the ropes used for tying Mr Ren up, a piece of his little finger, and pictures of the assault.

The police will revoke Mr Ren's and his brother's visas as they are suspected of involvement in the call centre scam.

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Vocabulary

  • abductor (noun): a person who abducts/kidnaps somebody - ผู้ลักพา
  • assault: attacking someone violently - การทำร้ายร่างกาย
  • captive: kept as a prisoner or in a confined space - ไม่สามารถหนีได้
  • conflict: an angry disagreement between people or groups - ความขัดแย้ง
  • detention (noun): the condition of being forced officially to stay in a place - การกักตัว
  • escape (verb): to get away from a place; to leave a place where you are in danger - หนี
  • kidnapping (noun): the crime of taking somebody away illegally and keeping them as a prisoner, especially in order to get money or something else for returning them; abduction - การลักพาตัว
  • national: a citizen of a particular country - ประชาชน
  • ransom: the amount of money that someone wants to be paid before they will let a person go or give back a valuable object - เงินค่าไถ่
  • revoke: to officially say that something is no longer legal - เพิกถอน
  • scam: a dishonest plan, especially for getting money - กลโกง, แผนร้าย
  • suspect: a person who is thought to have committed a crime - ผู้ต้องสงสัย
  • torture: to cause great physical or mental pain to someone intentionally - ทรมานให้เจ็บปวด
  • victim: someone who has been affected by a bad situation, such as a disaster, illness or an accident - เหยื่อผู้เคราะห์ร้าย
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