JEALOUSY prompted a man to hire a group of gangsters to beat up his estranged wife's adopted son, who he believed was having an affair with the woman, Harian Metro reported.

The men entered the 42-year-old woman's home in Jalan Kubang Badak, Kuala Terengganu, at 11pm on Tuesday, demanding to see the 26-year-old man who lives there with the woman and two of her children.

State Crime Investigation Department deputy chief Supt K. Manoharan said that the husband, who lives in Taman Permin, Chendering, suspected that the younger man, who is also his employee, was sleeping with his wife.

He said the men forced their way into the house and savagely assaulted the victim, inflicting injuries to his head and knocking out some of his teeth.

They then dumped him in their car booth and took him to an unidentified location.

"There, they sliced off some of his fingers and the victim, pleading for mercy, offered his assailants a handsome sum of money if they freed him," Supt Manoharan was reported as saying.

The men agreed to free him at 4am the same day as the amount offered was far more than what the husband had hired them for and they set up a location to collect the money in the morning, he said.

The victim's smart move led to the capture of one of the men in Jalan Bukit Kecil, Kuala Terengganu, when he arrived at the agreed spot at lunchtime to collect the money.

The victim then lodged a police report at the Kuala Terengganu police station. He also received outpatient treatment.

The husband has since disappeared and police are looking for him.

> Four houses were burned down at the Rumah Panjang area of the Drainage and Irrigation Department in Jalan Merdeka, Ampang Campuran, on Thursday, Sinar Harian reported.

Most of the occupants were not at home when the fire started.

Ampang Fire Department acting chief Abdul Wahab Ariffin said one of the residents alerted the department and firemen arrived at the scene 15 minutes later.