17 abducted teens returns from Myanmar

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-01-23 08:29

Seventeen of the 19 teenagers known to have been kidnapped and taken to Myanmar, have returned home, police in Yuncheng, Shanxi province, said on Wednesday.

Two men suspected of being involved in the kidnappings have been arrested, the Xinhua News Agency reported police as saying Thursday.

The report named the men as Zhang Donglin, 19, and Qin Ze, age unknown, both natives of Shanxi.

Police said nine people have been linked to the crimes, Xinhua quoted a source from Shanxi police as saying.

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17 kidnapped teens return home

Apart form the two men arrested, three others have been identified but not yet detained, and information is wanted on four others.

Shang Jianbing, 20, and Chen Xiangyu, 17, are still being held by kidnappers who have demanded 55,000 yuan ($8,000) for the safe return of each, Zhou Xin, head of the Yanhu district public security bureau in Yuncheng, said.

Since August, reports of teenagers being abducted have been filed in six county-level regions of Yuncheng, Ning Junjie, deputy head of the bureau, said.

"The number of people kidnapped might be higher than 19," Zhou said.

Most of the young men were allowed to return home after their families paid ransoms of between 20,000 yuan and 100,000 yuan, he said.

Police paid a 1,000-yuan ransom for the return of 16-year-old Wang Jian, whose parents were too poor to pay it, the Xinhua report said.

An officer surnamed Jing, from the Yuncheng public security bureau told China Daily yesterday that police "will do all they can do to resolve the case as soon as possible and provide a detailed report to the public".

An anonymous official from the Myanmar embassy in Beijing said the embassy had been made aware of the kidnappings and had reported it to its foreign affairs ministry.

"We're waiting for a response from the ministry, and also waiting for confirmation and more details about the case from the Chinese government," the official said.

On Monday, Beijing News reported that at least 50 teenagers, mostly from Yuncheng, had been kidnapped and held in Myanmar since August.

An investigation by Shanxi police found the kidnappers had lured the youngsters with the promise of well-paid jobs, it said.

Parents were told their children would be tortured if the ransom demands were not met, the newspaper said.

It also quoted a police officer as saying there could be as many as 100 children being held in Myanmar.

The Beijing News report provided little information about the kidnappers, except to say they are thought to be linked to a cross-border gambling gang.