Three men have been arrested over an alleged plot to kidnap a 21-year-old student and demand HK$15 million from his wealthy family. Police said the arrests netted all the plotters and foiled the kidnap, which had been planned for more than a month and was to have been carried out in the next couple of days. The alleged target lives with his parents in North Point; his father is a senior manager at an engineering company. A police spokeswoman said the arrests were made after a tip-off. Two men were held after a car was intercepted in Canal Road West near the junction of Hennessy Road, Wan Chai, at about 10pm on Thursday. Officers seized plastic cords from the vehicle. At the same time, a team of plainclothes officers raided a flat in Tuen Mun and arrested the third man. Before dawn yesterday, one of the suspects, who was hooded and handcuffed, was escorted by officers to a flat in South Horizons private housing estate, Ap Lei Chau. Investigators refused to reveal if they had seized anything. The suspects, aged 26 to 28, were being questioned in Wan Chai police station last night. No charges had been laid. 'Information revealed that they had planned the kidnapping plot for more than a month and they would have turned their plan into action in the next one or two days,' a police source said. Asked whether the would-be victim knew the suspects, the source did not deny it. 'The three arrested persons include the mastermind behind the kidnapping plot. We believe that we have netted all the gang members in the operation,' the source said. 'Our operation successfully foiled the kidnap.' Police refused to disclose whether the student had been placed under 24-hour watch by police after they were alerted. The Hong Kong Island regional crime unit is investigating.
