Suspected child kidnapping, some communes in Nghe An issue notices to residents

Speaking to Nghe An Newspaper reporters on the afternoon of April 8, Mr. Vu Van Hieu - Head of Tay Hieu Commune Police (Thai Hoa town), said that the commune has just sent a document to hamlet chiefs and principals of kindergartens and primary schools in the area about preventing subjects with suspicious activities of kidnapping children.

“There have been no suspicious cases in the area, but there have been cases in neighboring communes. So we are issuing warnings for people to take precautions,” said Mr. Hieu.

The document signed by Mr. Nguyen Dinh Chau - Chairman of Tay Hieu Commune People's Committee stated that currently in Thai Hoa town, there are some groups of people using sophisticated tricks to approach children and showing suspicious signs.

“Their modus operandi is usually to go with two or more people on motorbikes or cars to find households with small children but no one to look after them or only elderly people to look after them, the house has no locked gate, no camera surveillance system; they even wait at the gates of kindergartens and primary schools to pretend to be acquaintances of the children's parents to pick them up…”, the document stated.

The document of Tay Hieu commune was sent to the hamlets and the school board.

Authorities said that when approached, the subjects showed behaviors such as asking if anyone in the family was home, enticing the children to go buy gifts, and carrying the children into the car to escape.

Also according to this document, on the evening of April 1, at the house of Ms. Hoang Thi Hien (residing in Block 5, Long Son Ward, Thai Hoa Town), a strange young man came on a scooter and lured a young child onto the motorbike. At the same time, Ms. Hien went out and noticed unusual signs so she shouted. This subject immediately dropped the child and ran away.

A day later, also in Long Son ward, a stranger approached a child and lured him into buying candy. When his family discovered him, the stranger quickly ran away.

"To proactively prevent, detect and stop the above behavior, the People's Committee of Tay Hieu commune requires hamlets and school boards to use various means such as loudspeaker announcements and hamlet meetings to help people understand the methods of operation of this type of person and take measures to protect their children. If there is any suspicion, call the commune police chief," the announcement stated.

According to research, in addition to Tay Hieu commune, some other wards and communes in Thai Hoa town also issued the above notice after receiving feedback from people.