Police arrested five Indian men in Bangkok on Tuesday for allegedly kidnapping three compatriots for ransom in Pattaya.
Police said the five Indians were arrested at a hotel in Khlong Tan area of Bangkok as they were waiting for their outbound flight.
The five suspects were identified as Avtar Singh, 38, Jagjit Singh, 38, Rambalak Kumar, 24, Sukhbir Singh, 37, and Kulra Singh, 27.
According to sources, the suspects told police at Pattaya station that a Pakistani national whom they knew via a chat application over the past month ordered them to kidnap three Indian victims.
The mastermind allegedly stayed in Dubai and planned to receive digital currency from the victims through transfers. The alleged Indian kidnappers would get valuables and cash from the abductees and would receive air tickets to flee Thailand.
Pattaya police chief Pol Col Anek Sathongyu gave rewards to his subordinates who could arrest the suspects just before they could take a flight out of the country.
The three victims were reportedly lured to Pattaya with a "cheap tour package" for a seven-day holiday programme. Actually they were detained and tortured at a house in Pattaya. The victims were finally rescued on Monday evening.
