Man who kidnapped boy in Hanoi was police lieutenant

On Wednesday evening the Hanoi Police said Trung had been working in the advisory team of the Vinh Phuc Traffic Police Department, but claimed to be unemployed.

The Vinh Phuc Police department said it had sacked Trung Wednesday.

He told the Hanoi police he was deeply in debt and so drove a car with fake license plates to the Viet Hung villa compound in Long Bien District, around 60 km from Vinh Phuc, hoping to steal something.

When that plan fell through, he decided to kidnap a child for ransom.

On Monday he saw the seven-year-old boy cycling in the villa compound, quickly bundled him in the car, taped his hands and mouth, and drove away.

He got his parents’ numbers and used unregistered sim cards to call them and demand VND15 billion.

The boy’s family contacted the police while trying to raise the money.

Trung reportedly kept calling the boy’s mother repeatedly to demand that the money be brought quickly.

The boy’s father, Chien, said they had told the kidnapper that his demand came too suddenly and they had only VND7 billion on hand. But he refused to accept it, saying it had to be VND15 billion, he said.

After getting money from whatever sources they could, they managed to raise VND13 billion.

The kidnapper demanded that the boy’s mother should come alone with the money. He used various phone numbers to make contact.

At around 2 a.m. Tuesday he instructed the woman to drive to Thanh Tri Bridge in Hanoi first, before telling her to come to Duy Tien Town in Ha Nam Province, 60 km south of Hanoi.

When she reached Ha Nam, he told her to park her car on the side of a road and walk to a dark, deserted corner.

Chien said his wife took the bag of money, walked over to a parked car and, showed the driver the money.

He took the bag and attempted to drive away.

But she stood in front and blocked the car, begging him to release her child. But the kidnapper kept driving, albeit slowly, and said he would only release the boy a few hundred meters further down.

After driving for a short while, he finally stopped the vehicle and let the boy out to his mother.

He then attempted to drive away, and that was when the police entered the scene.

During the encounter, at around 5 a.m., he shot at and injured an officer with a rubber bullet.

Trung said he did not have know the boy’s family.

He had bought the rubber bullets and gun online just before the kidnapping.