Kidnapper demanding NT$300,000 ransom caught in Hsinchuang City

According to police reports, the kidnapper, surnamed Chan, was extremely vicious and violent. Chan allegedly tied the boy up on a bench so tightly he was unable to move. He also taped the boy's mouth shut, allowing him only to breathe through his nostrils. Police were thankful they were able to rescue the boy in time, as they fully believed his life was in danger.

The incident occurred at 11:30 a.m. on September 4, when the 11-year-old boy surnamed Liu went to an Internet cafe on Chungan St. in Hsinchuang City.

Chan, 21, who had relocated to Taipei two months ago from Changhua County, was at the cafe and, using the popular online game “Maple Story” as conversation bait, lured the boy into going back to his rented, sixth-floor apartment on Section 2 Fuhsing Road.

Once there, Chan confined the boy to the bathroom and threatened to hit him with a club if he tried to escape. When Chan briefly left the apartment, the boy made a run for it around 6 p.m., Saturday. To his dismay, he made it downstairs right as Chan pulled up on his scooter and forcibly dragged him back upstairs.

Police said Chan then behaved like a man out of his mind, tying the boy up on a bench with scout rope and tape, completely restricting his movement. Chan threatened to kill the boy if he tried to escape again. At around 7 p.m., the kidnapper made repeated phone calls to the boy's parents but for reasons unclear, did not utter a word.

At 10:30 p.m., Chan finally talked to Liu's parents on the phone and demanded a ransom of NT$300,000. The parents immediately contacted Hsinchuang police, who advised them to bargain with the kidnapper. At 11:35 p.m., the ransom sum was reduced at NT$100,000 and according to Chan's demands, Liu's parents were to put the money in an alley behind Chan's residence.

Police placed the money in a bag in tightly-bound wads to delay the perpetrator. When Chan showed up in his scooter to retrieve the bag, eight officers descended upon him and swiftly rescued the terrified boy. Chan reportedly claimed that the money was for his girlfriend, who was still in school.

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