Police are hunting for the kidnappers of a Taipei electronics businessman, surnamed Lin, who was released safely on Tuesday after his family paid a ransom of NT$20 million (US$602,400).
Investigators said they did not exclude the possibility that Lin's abductors were acquainted with Lin or his family because the details surrounding the kidnap indicated that the kidnappers were familiar with Lin's daily routine, his residence and office, as well as his company's financial status.
Authorities from the Criminal Investigation Bureau and the Taipei Police Department, who have been co-operating since Feb. 7 on the case, said law enforcement officers were closely monitoring airports and fishing ports, believing the kidnappers may try to flee the country.
Lin, owner of a trading company that imports electronic components, was abducted on Friday last week in his Mercedes while returning home from a bakery situated in Taipei's Ta-an district.
At around midnight, Lin's kidnappers used his mobile phone to call his wife, who was visiting their son in San Diego, California, to demand a ransom of NT$20 million for Lin's release.
Lin's wife, who supervises the finances of the company, phoned Lin's brother, asking him to inform police of the kidnapping, then rushed back to Taipei the same day.
Investigators discovered that the abductors stole more than NT$100,000 from Lin with his cash card from an automatic teller machine in Taoyuan on Sunday.
The kidnappers called Lin's wife on Monday evening, telling her to prepare the ransom payment. The kidnappers called her again after not showing up, saying they were not yet prepared.
Early Tuesday morning, the kidnappers called again, this time instructing her to proceed to a video store near Taoyuan to pay the ransom. The kidnappers again did not appear and called her later to tell her they saw police following her.
At around 11am on the same day, the kidnappers called once again, asking Lin's wife to go to a gas station in Luchou, Taipei County, to pick up her husband.
The kidnappers stood her up yet again and later phoned to warn her that "things would be complex with the police around."
At about 6pm, Lin's wife was instructed to drive a car to the Sun Yat-sen Freeway in Taoyuan and throw a bag containing the ransom money from a certain overpass. She did as instructed and drove home.
About two hours later, Lin phoned home, saying he had been released on the side of a road near Neihu.
According to Lin, there were at least three men and one women involved in his abduction.
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