BUKIT MERTAJAM: Police have arrested five individuals including a woman and a teen girl to facilitate an investigation into the attempted kidnapping of a nine-month-old baby girl from her babysitter’s apartment in Bukit Tengah here last Tuesday.
Seberang Perai Tengah Police chief ACP Tan Cheng San said they were picked up in separate raids in Machang Bubok here and in Kulim, Kedah, on the same day after the baby’s father lodged the police report.
He said when the baby’s mother arrived at the 65-year-old babysitter’s apartment at 5.30 pm to pick up her daughter, she was told that the babysitter’s 14-year-old granddaughter might have abducted the baby.
The closed circuit television camera (CCTV) footage also showed that the girl had left the compound of the apartment at 5.19 pm by riding a red Honda Ex-5 motorcycle without a helmet and holding the baby in one hand, he said.
Acting on the father’s report, Tan said police managed to track down and detain the teen girl in Machang Bubok where she was found with her boyfriend and another friend, both 18, at 11.50 pm.
“The arrest of the three teenagers led the police to a house in Kulim and detained a woman, 43, who is the teen girl’s boyfriend’s mother, and his 30-year-old stepfather. Police found them with the baby in a factory van parked there,” he said.
Tan said the motive of the attempted kidnapping was still being investigated.
The baby’s parents have been sending her to be taken care of by the babysitter over the past eight months with a payment of RM500 per month.
“The baby is found safe. Those arrested have been remanded until Aug 27 to facilitate further investigations under Section 363 of the Penal Code for kidnapping.
