Life of Guangzhou - 'Kidnapping' Extortion Cases Busted

Shenzhen police have arrested 17 suspects allegedly involved in 51 extortions by claiming they had taken schoolchildren hostage.

In a 15-day action between Jan. 11 and 26, the criminal investigation division also confiscated one vehicle, 32 telephone cards, 90 false ID cards, more than 100 bank cards and devices used to send mass text messages, Deng Guangsheng, vice division chief, told a news conference yesterday.

"The suspects called or sent messages to parents of schoolchildren, especially during school hours, demanding they transfer money to designated bank accounts, otherwise, they would harm the children," Deng said.

Suspects sometimes pretended to be teachers, claiming the children had been hurt in traffic accidents and demanding parents transfer money for treatment, Deng said.

In Futian District, a father surnamed Gu received a call Jan. 6. The caller claimed he had taken Gu's child hostage and demanded Gu transfer 120,000 yuan to his account. Gu transferred 50,000 yuan to the account before he realized he had been cheated and his son was safe at school.

Futian police caught four suspects in Fujian Province on Jan. 14. The main suspect Jian, 32, a native of Fujian Province, had allegedly admitted to being involved in more than 20 cases, including nine in Shenzhen.

Police reminded residents to protect their personal information to prevent it from being leaked and call police, instead of trying to solve problems by themselves in similar situations.

(by Han Ximin)

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