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A terrified message a 19-year-old sent to a friend saying he was ‘held hostage’ in Melbourne’s CBD
WeChat app played crucial role in armed rescue
The alleged hostage managed to message a friend
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A message sent on a Chinese messaging app played a crucial role in the armed rescue of a suspected kidnapping victim.
Six people have been arrested after the man, believed to be held by gunmen, used the WeChat app to tell a friend where he was and asked for help.
Armed Crime Squad detectives found the 19-year-old Chinese man in a flat in downtown Melbourne after his friend turned himself in to police.
The arrested men, all Chinese, also reportedly demanded to extort $200,000 from the 19-year-old.
Police were contacted on August 16 by a 21-year-old woman, also Chinese, after discovering that a friend of hers was allegedly being held hostage.
Six people have been arrested after an alleged kidnapping victim used a Chinese messaging app to tell a friend where she was. A Victorian policeman is pictured
The teenager told his friend via the WeChat app (stock photo) that he was being held by gunmen in a CBD apartment.
Police attended the flat around 1.20am on August 17 and released the man without incident.
Warrants were subsequently executed at properties in the city center and Docklands, and three men were arrested.
Two men, aged 23 and 22, were later charged with forcible confinement, attempted armed robbery, common assault, unlawful assault, extortion and blackmail.
They appeared in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on August 18 and were released on bail to appear again on November 9.
A 21-year-old man has been released pending further investigation.
On Tuesday August 22, detectives in Victoria arrested three more people in connection with the incident.
The men, aged 23, 25 and 27, were arrested in Docklands and then questioned.
They were later released pending further investigation, and the investigation is ongoing.
All of the arrests took place in Melbourne’s CBD (pictured) and the Docklands area.
Earlier this year, Victoria Police released information about scams mainly targeting Mandarin-speaking Chinese students.
These scams often involve providing false information to victims in order to extort money from them.
Victims are often threatened by people falsely claiming to be Chinese government or police officials and demanding the transfer of large sums of money in order to avoid the victim being charged or deported.
Information on the scam as well as information on crime prevention can be accessed on the Victoria Police website and is also available in Mandarin.
An image of a man being held hostage