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Cops rescue nine foreigners, believed human trafficking victims

Nine men believed to be kidnap and human trafficking victims were rescued by police in a raid in a house in Kampung Charok Keladi, Pendang early this morning.

The foreign men comprised eight Bangladeshis and one Myanmar national aged between 22 and 45 and were found weak and starved, with their legs chained.

Kedah police chief Asri Yusoff said the raid at 1.30am followed a report of kidnapping of six Bangladeshi men at a construction site in Sungai Petani on Aug 29.

"All families of the victims in Bangladesh had received threats that the victims would be killed if the ransom of RM15,000 each was not paid," he told reporters in Alor Setar today.

He said based on intelligence reports, police raided a house and found the six men as well as three other victims who were reported kidnapped in Perak and Kuala Lumpur.

Asri said in the raid, police also detained four local men as well as a Bangaldeshi and Myanmar, aged between 15 and 38 who were believed to be involved in the case.

He said a 15-year-old teenager detained was the son of a suspect while the other two were previously involved in a kidnapping case.

He said a Bangladeshi man who was detained was believed to be the middleman blackmailing the families of victims.

Police, he said were still identifying another Bangladeshi and a local woman believed to be involved directly in the syndicate.

"From the arrests, we believed police had crippled an active group in Kedah, Penang, Perak and Kuala Lumpur," he said.

The case was being investigated under Section 3(1) of the Kidnap Act 1961 and the Section 13 of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007, he said.

- Bernama

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