Chung slain by kidnap gang?

Has a new twist developed in the investigation of the death of Chung Young Ho, Third Secretary of the South Korean Embassy in Manila?

Police are digging into reports that Chung, who was found dead in Marikina City last June 7, was not killed by the "Ativan Gang" but by the abductors of his 12-year-old special child.

Reports said elements of the National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO) and the National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force (NAKTAF) are presently scouring Antipolo City where Chung’s child was still being kept by his abductors, a police official in Southern Tagalog said.

The police source who refused to be identified said Chung’s son was with his nanny when abducted by armed men in Makati City last month. The kidnappers initially demanded millions of pesos in ransom from Chung.

However, Chung, the police source said, failed to produce the money and instead decided to personally handle the negotiation for the safe release of his child.

The police official said Chung met with a certain Jonald Sambilay, the alleged leader of the kidnap group, but the negotiations bogged down.

"It was not the Ativan Gang who killed Chung but the kidnappers of his special child," said the police official who is privy to the investigation of Chung’s death. "Our initial investigation showed that he met with his child’s abductors who decided to kill him because he gave them a hard time negotiating for the ransom."

Earlier, Director Nestorio Gualberto, chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) pointed to the "Ativan Gang" as behind Chung’s death. But two of the suspects who Gualberto named surfaced and denied their involvement in Chung’s death.

Because of Gualberto’s revelation, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Leandro Mendoza offered a P1.4 million reward for the arrest of the seven suspected "Ativan Gang" members believed behind Chung’s death.

Superintendent Cipriano Querol, Marikina City police chief said he’s not aware of reports that Chung’s son was kidnapped. Querol chose to keep mum on the progress of their investigation into Chung’s death.

When reached for comment, Metro Manila police chief Deputy Director General Edgar Aglipay said the report that Chung’s child was kidnapped was not true. "I personally went to the wake of Mr. Chung and I saw his wife and two daughters before they left for South Korea," Aglipay said in an interview.

But the police official claimed that Chung was killed by his son’s kidnappers to pressure his wife into giving in to their ransom demands.

As of presstime, Mrs. Chung has not sought the help of the police for the safe recovery of her son. She was monitored negotiating for the reduction of the ransom money to P50 million, the police official said.

The payment of ransom was agreed at 2 p.m. the other day somewhere in Antipolo City but Mrs. Chung failed to show up, the source said. The victim and his captors were last seen leaving their safehouse in Sitio Kilingan, in Barangay San Jose, in Antipolo City on board a sky blue Land Cruiser. – Non Alquitran