Suspect in abducted pastor’s case to be charged for extortion
Police say that the 30-year-old male suspect had taken advantage of the situation to extort the pastor’s family.
“From the investigation we conducted, we found that the suspect has no connection to the case (Koh’s abduction).
“He was only trying to take advantage of the situation by extorting the victim’s family,” Selangor CID chief Senior Asst Comm Fadzil Ahmat said in a statement today.
He also said that the 30-year-old male suspect was expected to be charged in the Petaling Jaya Magistrate’s Court tomorrow, for the crime of extortion.
He will be charged under Section 385 of the Penal Code, which deals with the offence of putting a person in fear of injury in order to commit extortion. In this case, the affected party was Koh’s family.
The suspect was nabbed in Ampang at 3.30am on March 9, based on information given by the Koh family.
According to police, the suspect had contacted the Koh family and demanded an undisclosed sum of ransom to be paid for the release of Koh.
Fadzil said the investigation into Koh’s abduction is still ongoing, and urged the public to help the police by passing along any relevant information they may have.
On Feb 22, the Inspector-General of Police, Khalid Abu Bakar, said a special task force had been formed to investigate the abduction.
He added that police had recorded the statements of eight people whom they believe could assist in the investigation.
Koh, 62, was abducted on Feb 13 by a group of masked men less than 100 metres from a police housing complex. He was driving a silver Honda Accord bearing the licence plate ST 5515 D.
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The pastor had been at the centre of a controversy in 2011 after his NGO, Harapan Komuniti, was accused by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) of proselytising Muslims, following a raid at a thanksgiving and fundraising dinner at the Damansara Utama Methodist Church.