Kidnapped for leaking information about 'land winning'

On the afternoon of December 8, Tuan and four accomplices admitted their motives for the crime and the plan to kidnap Mr. Tran, 49, a garden owner in Hoa Hiep commune, Xuyen Moc district. Tuan was identified as the mastermind.

Tuan called Nguyen Van Tien (also known as Nao, 30 years old, from Tien Giang), Nguyen Van Thuan (47 years old), Nguyen Xuan Cao (38 years old, from Lam Dong) and Mai Xuan Duy to discuss the plan.

On the afternoon of December 5, Tuan's group drove a pickup truck with a Tay Ninh license plate to Dinh Quan district (Dong Nai province) to leave it, rented a 7-seat car with a Ho Chi Minh City license plate, and drove to Mr. Tran's house. Tuan called him to the coconut garden to "discuss the sale" so that his accomplices could take the opportunity to control him, blindfold him, tie his hands and feet, and take him away in the car.

On the way, Mr. Tran struggled to call for help, was beaten by the kidnappers, who threatened to "deal with" his relatives if he continued to scream. That night, the victim was taken to an abandoned hut on a remote hill in Lam Dong province to bedetention.

Tuan's group forced Mr. Tran to call his wife and demand that they transfer 4.5 billion VND to them or they would kill him to "cover up the evidence". The wife was scared and agreed to give them the money but asked for more time to borrow money and call the police to intervene in time to save her husband.

Some of the evidence the police seized from Tuan. Photo:Provided by police.

Determining that the case was of a particularly serious nature, with a large and daring criminal group, Major General Tran Ngoc Ha - Director of the Criminal Police Department (C02, Ministry of Public Security) directed the Major Crimes Department (Department 6) to coordinate with Ba Ria - Vung Tau Police to solve the case.

"The goal is to ensure absolute safety for the victim, so we plan to transfer some money in advance to reassure the kidnappers," said an officer from Department 6.

As expected, Mr. Tran's wife's phone then rang continuously. Tuan urged the money transfer, demanding an advance of 500 million VND or he would kill the victim immediately.

At the same time, many experienced officers of the Ministry of Public Security were mobilized to trace the car used by the kidnappers. The origin of the car was determined, and the identity of the renter was found to be Tuan.

However, at this time, Tuan handed Mr. Tran over to his accomplice to watch, and together with Tien drove back to Saigon to hide. To cover his living expenses, he pawned the car for 150 million VND, and rented a hotel in District 12 to stay.

The car Tuan's group rented to kidnap the victim. Photo:Provided by police.

On the afternoon of December 7, many police officers raided the hotel and arrested Tuan and Tien. Tuan revealed where the hostages were being held. "The place where they kept the victims was very remote, the phone signal was weak, so it took a long time for us to reach them. Detectives from many directions simultaneously raided, controlled the two guards, and safely rescued the hostages," said the leader of Room 6.

Police seized 2 cars, a military uniform, 2 sets of lieutenant and captain ranks, 2 electric batons, 7 mobile phones, bank cards...

Lieutenant Colonel Lai Quang Huan (Deputy Head of the Serious Crime Department, C02) assessed that this was a difficult case, but the entire process of capturing the suspects and rescuing the hostages only took nearly two days, demonstrating the efforts of the entire Task Force.

* Victim's name has been changed.