On Friday, Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB) officers successfully rescued three Indian men who were held hostage at a safe house located in Soi Santikram 8, Muang district, Samut Prakan province.
At the scene, police apprehended six individuals—five Indians and one Pakistani—in connection with the hostage situation. The arrests occurred both at the safe house and a condominium in Bang Lamung district, Chonburi province.
The suspects are accused of kidnapping the victims and demanding a ransom of 2.5 million rupees (approximately 900,000 baht) from their families.
Sanjeev (last name withheld), a 27-year-old from India, contacted the police on April 14 to report that his friends, Ramesh and Amandeep, were missing.
They were last seen being picked up by an Indian man outside their hotel in the Silom area of Bangkok, intending to travel to Vietnam but were instead taken to a safe house in Samut Prakan.
Two days later, Ramesh’s sister informed Sanjeev via WhatsApp that she had received a ransom demand. A man named Sandhu, claiming to hold the hostages, threatened harm if the payment was not made.
Investigations led the police to a condominium in Chonburi, where they discovered evidence of WhatsApp communications with the victims’ families. They located the victims bound inside the house in Samut Prakan shortly thereafter.
Another victim, Vipul Kumar, also an Indian national, was found in the house. He had been abducted from Suvarnabhumi Airport by the same gang.
The hostages reported that they were threatened with mutilation and beaten with sticks wrapped in tape, forcing them to press their families for the ransom.
Wirat Lakchai, a Thai taxi driver who unwittingly transported the victims to the safe house, recalled picking up the three men near their hotel. He mentioned that they seemed calm and conversed in English, showing no signs of distress, leading him to believe they were merely traveling together.
The six arrested suspects face charges of illegal detention and attempted extortion, with the Yan Nawa Police Station overseeing the case.
Deputy Commissioner of MPB, Pol Major General Wasan Techa-akrakasem, revealed that the suspects pretended to be employment agents. They promised to arrange work for Indians in Austria, requiring them to stay in Bangkok temporarily to sort out their paperwork before abducting them for ransom.
Authorities are currently examining the suspects’ criminal records and collaborating with the immigration bureau and the Indian Embassy to ascertain more details, including any potential involvement of Thai accomplices.
