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Monday, April 26, 2004
Woman kidnapped for employer's P.5-M debt, released
By Jun Feliciano
A 34-YEAR old woman was reportedly kidnapped by eight persons while on her way home from work near the old public market at the city's water-front area last Thursday night.
The police gathered that Joselyn Alvarez Nodado, who works at a barter trade store, was snatched by her abductors and forced her inside their vehicle and sped away.
Her husband, Michael, reported to the police that her kidnapped wife managed to call him by cellular phone and informed him that her kidnappers were asking P500,000 for her safe release.
The army's Special Forces, stationed in Barangay Sangali, was able to intercept the get-away vehicle, at their checkpoint, and that it was there where they dropped their kidnap victim.
The sketchy report could not ascertain as now to how the woman was released.
But, according to the police, the girl was later found in Sangali and was turned over to her family this morning.
Sun.Star Zamboanga checked the report with Task Force Zamboanga (TFZ) and Chief Col. Jovencio Magalso confirmed it was an attempted kidnapping, but that Joselyn, the alleged kidnap victim, was already freed by her abductors and was already reunited with her family at 8:30 am Friday.
Magalso said based on their findings, the girl was taken by her captors due to a family feud between her employer at a barter trade store, where she is employed as a sales attendant, and her employer's brother.
In order to exact revenge against his brother, the barter trade store-owner, her abductor, who was not identified in the report wanted to keep her captive and asked for the amount of P500,000 believed to be the amount owed him by his brother.
Magalso said both feuding parties managed to settle their problem amicably and returned the girl to her family Friday morning.
The police investigators at the central police office are, however, conducting further investigation on the case.
Earlier, the police claimed that the army in Sangali declined to entrust the kidnap victim to them for proper investigation after the soldiers in Sangali recovered her.
But Magalso clarified that the woman and her family preferred to settle the incident with the army at its Task Force Zamboanga Headquarters in Malagutay, instead at the police headquarter.
"It was actually a family feud between two brothers and the kidnap woman was merely their victim here," Magalso explained.
The investigators did not identify the names of the feuding brothers, but they are said to be Muslim businessmen.
The police investigator in the case, PO2 Alan Benasing, could not be contacted as he was said to be already out of duty, according to the investigation section when reached by Sun.Star Zamboanga.
The police described the kidnapping as one muddling case that puzzles them.
(April 24, 2004 issue)
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