KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 22: Malaysian police said on Tuesday they had smashed a kidnapping gang with the arrest of four Pakistani nationals who seized their own countrymen for ransom from the victims’ relatives back home.

City police chief Zulkifli Abdullah said the four Pakistanis, aged between 22 and 35, were arrested on Saturday, following a tip-off.

“As a result of our monitoring, we saw four Pakistani nationals acting suspiciously and followed them to a flat downtown where we found three other Pakistanis locked in the home and who were bound and gagged,” he said.

“One of the kidnappers tried to escape and jumped from the third floor of the flats, ending up breaking his hand,” Zulkifli added.

He said initial investigations showed the kidnappers had demanded a ransom of 620,000 ringgit ($204,317) for the release of the three men.

“The group’s modus operandi was to kidnap their countrymen who came to Malaysia to trade and do business and then seek a ransom from their relatives back in Pakistan,” he added.

He said the four would be charged in court shortly after police completed their investigations.—AFP