Thursday, December 23, 2010

Philippine police rescue kidnapped Fil-Chinese student


ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 23, 2010) – Police rescued a kidnapped Filipino-Chinese student after two months in captivity in the southern Philippine province of Sulu, officials said Thursday.

Officials said Kenneth Lao, 21, was rescued in the village of Langhob in Patikul town late Wednesday after police forces surrounded the kidnappers’ hideout. But Lao’s captors were able to escape under cover of darkness.

“Kenneth is okay and reunited with his family,” said Senior Inspector Amil Baanan, operations chief of the provincial police force.

He said policemen also recovered rice, cassava, cooking pans and clothes left behind by the kidnappers. “Police forces are tracking down the kidnappers,” he said.

Lao was lured out of his school by a friend whom he was texting and then snatched by armed men in October. His family told police that a man phoned them later to say that they are holding Lao captive.

It was unknown whether the Abu Sayyaf, a notorious rebel group blamed for the spate terror attacks and kidnappings-for-ransom, has anything to do withy the abduction.

Police did not say if the kidnappers demanded ransom for Lao’s safe release. (Mindanao Examiner)

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