KUALA LUMPUR: Police are working on several leads and theories in their hunt for the kidnappers of 12-year-old Dutch boy Nayati Shamelin Moodliar.
They are believed to be looking for at least three key suspects behind the kidnapping.
One theory is that the kidnappers may have operated as separate cells with each given a single task.
It is believed that one cell was given the task of kidnapping the boy, another hiding and taking care of him and the third or fourth cell could have negotiated and collected the ransom before releasing the boy.
After the boy's parents dropped off the ransom, believed to be RM300,000, in Cheras on Wednesday afternoon, the boy was released at the Sungai Buloh rest and recreation area at 7.55am on Thursday.
Police sources said Nayati's parents were contacted by the kidnappers within 24 hours of his abduction at 7.35am on April 27 when he was walking to the Mont' Kiara International School (MKIS).
It is learnt that the kidnappers used Nayati's Facebook account to communicate with the Facebook account of his father Shamelin Moodliar, and demanded a ransom of RM1mil. The Cape Town-raised Shamelin is a senior adviser in a Dutch business management consultancy firm.
As the father was unable to meet ransom demand, negotiations went on until Wednesday when a sum of RM300,000 was agreed upon for the boy's release, the sources said.
Police have sought the assistance of the Bukit Aman Cyber Crimes Investigations Department as well as the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) in a bid to try and trace the IP address that the kidnappers used for communicating via Facebook with Nayati's family.
The source said the kidnappers' use of the social networking site to contact the victim's family was relatively new and unheard of by the police before in Malaysia. Kidnappers often contact the victims using mobile phones.
Police have set up a special task force headed by Kuala Lumpur CID chief Senior Asst Comm Datuk Ku Chin Wah to track down the kidnappers, who are believed to be locals.