Former air steward, two Nepal nationals get life in prison for kidnapping

SHAH ALAM: Three men, including a former air steward, were sentenced to life in prison by a High Court here after they pleaded guilty to abducting a security company CEO two years ago.

C. Rudhra, 39, and Nepal nationals R. Roshan, 32, and T. Ramesh, 30, escaped the death penalty when Justice Abdul Alim Abdullah handed down a lifetime imprisonment sentence instead.

"The victim was not injured. The gold (ransom) has been recovered and returned to the victim's family," said the judge prior to sentencing on Friday.

The men admitted to abducting A. Kanapathy, 66, at an alley next to Kedai Makanan Laut Pulau Ketam, Persiaran Raja Muda Musa, Port Klang in Klang at about 11.30am on March 7, 2011, with intention to obtain a ransom of 10kg in gold.

They were first charged at a Klang Magistrate's Court on March 22, 2011, and the case was subsequently transferred to the High Court.

The higher court then ruled there was a prima facie case against the men and ordered them to enter their defence where they gave statements from the dock.

However, they changed their plea and admitted guilt before the defence closed its case.

They apologised to the court for the crime, during mitigation.

In their statements during the trial, the court was told that Rudhra quit his job at a local airline company in 2011 before opening his security business.

Prior to the crime, Rudhra had hired Roshan to train four guard dogs while Ramesh worked at an eatery.

The court also heard that the victim was walking from a carpark to his office atStrikeforce Security Sdn Bhd when he was tasered by a man and bundled into a car.

One of the victim's family members threw a bag filled with gold over a bridge during the ransom drop-off.

The victim was released with his head covered and hands tied.

He managed to untie his hands and sought help at a petrol station.

A team of policemen captured the three men two days after the incident.

Rudhra was represented by lawyers Haresh Mahadevan and Ramzani Idris. Roshan was represented by lawyer Jayamurugan Vadivelu while Ramesh was represented by K. A. Ramu.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2013/6/7/nation/20130607151627&sec=nation