The criminal investigation branch of Jeddah police succeeded in freeing an Asian who was held hostage by eight of his compatriots.

The kidnappers, who had gagged and tied up the victim, had demanded SR15,000 for his release.

Lt. Col. Ati bin Atiyah Al-Qurashi, spokesman for Makkah police, said the eight accused, aged between 30 and 50 years, were arrested in the south of the governorate. During interrogation, it appeared that the accused had a financial dispute with the victim, he said, adding that all eight were handed over to the Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution for necessary action.

Giving details of the case, he said security authorities received a call from an Asian resident saying that some persons from his country had kidnapped his brother, held him in an undisclosed location and were demanding a ransom of SR15,000.

Criminal investigation teams under the supervision of Jeddah police director Brig. Gen. Abdullah bin Samha Al-Qahtani dealt with the case. Al-Qahtani issued directions to form a security team to get to the perpetrators as quickly as possible, release the hostage safely and bring the criminals to justice.

The team swung into action and culled information from its undercover sources. Subsequently, they zeroed in on the location where the victim was held and the officers chalked out a plan to raid the place.

The security officers managed to arrest the criminals and free the hostage in less than 24 hours.