Four Indian nationals linked to Central Luzon kidnaps

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — A big-time kidnap-for-ransom syndicate being run by Indian nationals and preying on their compatriots in Central Luzon was believed busted with the arrest of its four alleged members over the weekend.

National Bureau of Investigation regional director Orly Dizon said the four suspects, Tirath Singh, Harmil Singh, Joseph Singh and Kulwant Singh, were identified by one of their alleged victims in a police line-up.

Immigration Commissioner Andrea Domingo presented the four suspects to the media at her office in Manila yesterday.

They were nabbed on the strength of arrest warrants issued by Judge Ma. Angelica Paras-Quiambao of the Mabalacat Municipal Trial Court.

Last March, four other Indian nationals and their three Filipino accomplices in kidnappings for ransom were arrested in Tarlac.

Dizon reported to NBI director Reynaldo Wycoco that the Bureau of Immigration has also ordered the arrest of the wives of Tirath and Harmil for alleged possession of fraudulent immigration documents.

The NBI tagged the Singhs as behind the abduction of one Sukwinder Singh in Magalang, Pampanga in February last year. A P1.8-million ransom was paid in exchange for the victim’s release.

The group was also implicated in two other ransom kidnappings in Mexico, Pampanga and Gerona, Tarlac. In both cases, the victims’ kin paid a P1.5-million ransom each. — Ric Sapnu, Rey Arquiza