State police chief Datuk Ayub Yaakub said the suspect was in his 20s and spoke Thai.

Police have not ruled out the possibility that the suspect is a local.

Ayub, who visited the victim at the Penang Hospital here yesterday, said police had also recorded a statement from the boy.

Present at the hospital were state Criminal Investigation Department chief Senior Assistant Commissioner II Wan Abdullah Tuanku Said and northeast district police chief Assistant Commissioner Azam Abdul Hamid.

The boy's father, Idris Shahid, 60, had said that his son was abducted at gunpoint by three men in front of his house at Tingkat Sungai Gelugor on Jan 1.

The boy, who scored 4As in last year's Penilaian Menengah Rendah examination, was taken to a construction site and forced to consume an acidic solution which caused his face and mouth to swell.

He was also forced to take another drink which caused him to vomit.

His captors panicked when the boy played dead, and dumped him near Balik Pulau.

He was rescued by a passing motorist who sent him to hospital.

Police arrested a suspect the same evening but later released him on bail.