KOTA KINABALU — Greed and a belief that they could get away with fleecing an immigrant was likely the motivating factor for three policemen to stage an abduction in the high security Lahad Datu area.
The three believed they could pocket RM50,000 (P541,137) without the victim lodging a report, as she was a Filipina holding an IMM13 document issued to refugees.
However, the 45-year-old Filipina decided to lodge a police report that triggered an investigation and the involvement of the three policemen was uncovered.
READ: 3 cops, fishmonger arrested for kidnapping Filipina in Malaysia
Sabah CID chief Senior Asst Comm Datuk Sallehuddin Abdul Rahman said checks were now being made into the three men, aged between 26 and 33.
The three, a constable and two corporals, were arrested along with a fishmonger on Monday.
SAC Sallehuddin said the 30-year-old fishmonger lived in Kampung Silam where the 45-year-old victim was abducted on Jan 6.
After she was freed the next day, she told police that three masked men with weapons had come to her house at about 10pm, asking for a “Haji Yusuf.” She told them she did not know the person, and they bundled her into a white van and drove to a forested area along deserted Jalan Danum. They said they would kill her if she did not the ransom.
She was handed a cellphone to call her family, who brought the money to the junction of the Kampung Silam entrance and the Lahad Datu-Tawau road, about 18km from Lahad Datu town.