Police Nab Six Men And Two Women In RM1.7 Million Kidnap Case

Johor!!! Johor!!! Johor!!!

JOHOR BAHARU, Oct 30 -- Police have succeeded in apprehending six men and two women involved in a kidnapping case that involved ransom of RM1.7 million early this month.Johor chief police officer, Datuk Mohd Mokhtar Mohd Shariff, said the group kidnapped a woman together with her six-year old son here about 11.59am on Oct 6. They were caught in a hotel in Georgetown, Penang at 1.20am two days later."The kidnappers locked up the 42-year old woman and her son at a location here. They were freed on the evening of Oct 7 after the ransom was paid and the gang then fled to Penang," Mohd Mokhtar told reporters at the state police contingent headquarters here today.He said police recovered the money and two pistols at the hotel where the gang was nabbed and that the members were in their early 40s.He said they were remanded for investigation under Section 3 of the Kidnapping Act 1961."We are looking for three more men to help in investigations," he said.On another matter, Mohd Mokhtar said police will suggest to the Johor Baharu City Council to cancel the business licenses of cheap hotels in the city to eradicate prostitution.He said the vice-activities were widespread in the city and that joint operations with the Johor Islamic Department from Oct 13-17 led to 58 foreign women and 69 local women being detained for prostitution in the hotels. "Police efforts are on-going to clean up Johor Baharu from prostitution. We advise the hotel operators to refrain from letting their premises to be used for such activities," he said.

Golf: Goosen Aims To Salvage Season In Malaysia

JOHOR BAHRU: Two-time Major winner Retief Goosen is aiming for victory at the $500,000 Iskandar Johor Open this week to salvage what he called a “bad” season.The South African star headlines the Asian Tour event at Royal Johor Country Club from Thursday and has every intention of snatching the trophy from title holder Artemio Murakami of the Philippines.Former Asian number one Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand, Malaysia’s rising star Ben Leong, Niclas Fasth of Sweden and last week’s Macau Open champion David Gleeson of Australia are also in the field.“I’ve been working pretty hard over the last five months with my fitness and everything. I feel like it’s starting to come together and hopefully I can get on a roll this week,” said Goosen, winner of the US Open in 2001 and 2004. Once a regular fixture in the world’s top-10, ‘the Goose’ has slipped off the radar over the past 12 months but is optimistic of turning his fortunes around.“It’s been pretty bad,” the 47th-ranked Goosen said of his year. “I had a couple of good tournaments but it’s been very inconsistent. My putting has not been up to standard for the past two years and in this game, if you can make putts you’ll make a score.“I’ve been working pretty hard in all parts of my game and hopefully things can improve.” Despite turning 40 in February, Goosen still feels he has plenty to offer.“I’m still a youngster,” he said. “Vijay (Singh) started playing his best golf when he was 40 and I can’t wait till I turn 40 next year. Hopefully it’ll kickstart my game. I know I’ve got another five good years of golf left.” Murakami is relishing a return to the scene of his maiden Asian Tour victory but knows he must be on top of his game to ward off the combined challenges from Goosen and Asia’s best players. “It’s exciting to come back to Johor.However, there are so many top players this week, so it will be a real test for me,” said the big-hitting Filipino, who triumphed by one shot last year.He remembers the victory clearly but the notorious greens at the Royal Johor still bring a shiver to his spine. “The pin positions were very tricky last year. There are many tough pins out there.” Thongchai, a two-time winner of the Malaysian Open, returns to what he calls his second home and while he will be eyeing a ninth career Asian Tour victory, the former Thai soldier is battling jetlag after flying in from Spain on Monday.“I’ll need to adjust again to the conditions here as I’m struggling with jetlag,” said Thongchai. Like Goosen, Thongchai lamented about his putting and knows he needs to hit the right lines in Johor. “In my last two events, I’ve hit like 16 and 17 greens consistently but took an average of 34 putts. It’s not been good,” he said.