By Chuah Bee Kim and Jassmine Shadiqe

JOHOR BARU, MALAYSIA: A woman and her 6-year-old son were rescued from a hotel room in a dramatic operation, some 700km away from where they had been kidnapped, less than 48 hours earlier.

The police team which stormed the room of a hotel in George Town, Penang, found the two victims along with several kidnappers.

They also recovered RM1.7 million, believed to be part of the RM2.3 million ransom paid by the victims' family for their release.

Also found in the room were two pistols and 80 bullets. The guns were believed to have been used in the kidnapping.

In follow-up operations, police picked up several other members of the gang in Penang and Johor. Among them were two women.

Johor police chief Datuk Mokhtar Mohd Shariff said that a task force was put together to investigate the kidnapping of the 42-year-old woman and her son immediately after the incident, which occurred about noon on Oct 6.

It was learnt that the woman, a housewife, had picked up her son from a nursery in Taman Century here when her car was boxed in by two vehicles.

Three men, two armed with pistols, broke the windows of the woman's car before dragging her and her son into one of their cars.

Police were immediately alerted by several passers-by who witnessed the incident.

It was learnt that soon afterwards, the woman's husband, the managing director of a steel factory, was contacted by the kidnappers who initially demanded a ransom of S$15 million (RM36.17 million).

It was believed that after several rounds of negotiation, the sum was reduced to RM2.3 million. However, it was not known where the drop was made.

It was learnt that hours after the ransom was paid, the task force obtained a lead which led them to the hotel room in George Town.

Mokhtar said the suspects, all said to be in their 40s, had been remanded for further investigations.

"Both the victims were found unharmed and they have been reunited with the family."

Initial checks revealed that several of those detained had previous convictions for various offences, including armed robbery and human trafficking.

Meanwhile, police are looking for three men to assist in the investigations.

One of them is Tee Van Hin @ Ah Heng (MyKad: 540630-05-5063), whose last known address was 27, Jalan Setia 5/12, Taman Setia Indah, here.