Kidnap victims return

Source: Xinhua  |   2009-1-25  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

TEN kidnap victims who were held for ransom in Myanmar have returned to Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province.

They arrived on Friday night following the earlier release of another 19 kidnap victims from north China's Shanxi Province, provincial police said yesterday.

The 10 people were told by a man surnamed He that they could travel and gamble for free in Myanmar in 2008.

All ran up gambling debts and were detained for a ransom payment, a Zhejiang provincial public security department official said.

Most of the group of 10 were from Tonglu County, Jiande City, Lin'an City and Fuyang City and were illegally detained and assaulted, the official said.

Abductions across the Myanmar border have been reported in Zhejiang since 2005 but there was a rise in reports in the latter half of 2008, he said.

Zhejiang police visited the border areas on January 14 and rescued the 10 as well as arresting five suspects. The 19 taken from Shanxi Province also returned on Friday.