A Bulgarian man was kidnapped in Bali’s tourist hub Kuta on Saturday for a large ransom, the incident allegedly motivated by revenge, police publicly disclosed on Wednesday.
A total of 16 people were arrested from Monday to Tuesday this week, related to the incident, six of which were ultimately declared suspects, the other 10 designated as witnesses for the kidnapping of Bulgarian national George Jordanov, 47.
Jordanov was held captive in Jimbaran for three days after being abducted from Sunset Road, but freed by police when his kidnappers were hunted down.
Members from a Bali mass organization (ormas), essentially a gang, were allegedly involved in the incident, along with one other Bulgarian and two Turkish nationals. Police suspect that the foreigners involved employed the help of the mass organization to carry out a revenge plot.
Police have yet to identify which Bali mass organization is involved in the incident.
The investigation found that the kidnapping was payback for Jordanov and his friends ganging up on one of the perpetrators back in October 2017.
It’s alleged that the kidnappers demanded a ransom of US$20,000.
“Yes, we are concerned now that foreigners have collaborated with local people to commit crimes in Bali. This is very disturbing,” Bali Police Criminal Investigation Unit Chief Sang Made Mahendra Jaya told Tribun Bali on Thursday.
Mahendra Jaya said that Bali Police put a team of Resmob (mobile detective unit) officers on the case after police were tipped off about the Sunset Road abduction by the Embassy of Bulgaria.
“This case is unfortunate, because it involves ormas. Even the idea of the kidnapping came from an ormas coordinator. A video from the perpetrator after the abduction was sent to the victim’s friend via Whatsapp, including the request for a ransom.
“Furthermore, the video was sent on to the Ambassador of Bulgaria,” Mahendra Jaya explained.
Within hours of getting the tip from the embassy, police had tracked down the suspects by profiling people in the video, says Mahendra Jaya.
“We secured 16 people. There are six that we consider to have perpetrated the kidnapping,” he said.
“So, the six people named as suspects were directly involved in the kidnapping, torture, and victimization. They have their respective roles,” he added.
The suspects will be charged with Article 328 of the Criminal Code on Abduction and Article 333 of the Criminal Code regarding hostage-taking, with the maximum threat of 12 years and eight years prison, respectively.
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