CEBU CITY – Two Chinese were arrested for allegedly kidnapping their compatriot in Lapu-Lapu City last May 4.
Arrested were Rong Tong Xue and Gou Min Li. They were cornered in a safehouse at Vistamar Village in Barangay Mactan, Lapu-Lapu City where the victim, Li Hong Yu, was rescued last May 7.
Li was allegedly kidnapped while the victim was eating in an eatery in Sitio Soong 2, Barangay Mactan.
The rescue operation was only publicized Wednesday, May 25, as police conducted a follow-up operation to possibly arrest the suspects’ cohorts.
The rescue operation was conducted by operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Group-Visayas Field Unit (AKG-VFU), Lapu-Lapu City Police Office (LLCPO), and Intelligence Division of the Police Regional Office-Central Visayas (Region 7).
Police Lt. Col. Lee Allen Bauding, officer-in-charge of the AKG-VFU, and Police Col. Arnel Banzon, chief of LCCPO, spearheaded the rescue operation.
Police Lt. Zosimo Ravanes Jr., team leader of AKG-VFU, said the suspects demanded $200,000 (approximately P10 million) from the victim’s relatives.
Ravanes said no ransom was paid after the police were able to successfully rescue the victim.
Police said the victim identified Rong and Gou as the ones who abducted him and tortured him while he was in captivity.
Ravanes said the victim was taken to the hospital after he was found to have bruises all over the body. “One of his fingers was broken after he was tortured,” said Ravanes.
Ravanes added that the suspects would send to victim’s family a video of their captive being tortured to convince them to pay the ransom.One of the suspects was injured after he jumped from the second floor of the safehouse, Ravanes said.
When rescuing police arrived, the victim was found inside a toilet with his hands handcuffed behind his back. The victim’s head was also taped and was covered with a bonnet, Ravanes added.
Police said the suspects are members of a Chinese kidnap-for-ransom group which victimizes their compatriots. The group is reportedly based in Manila and is suspected to have a Filipino cohort.
According to the victim, there was a Filipino who visited the safehouse.
Ravanes said that through an interpreter, the suspects disclosed that the mastermind of the kidnap-for-ransom group is also a Chinese.
The suspects allegedly admitted that their roles were to guard their captive in the safehouse.
Police said kidnapping and serious illegal detention were among the charges filed against the suspects before the Lapu-Lapu City Prosecutor’s Office last May 10.