KUALA LUMPUR - Three Sri Lankan visitors were held captive for ransom for three days after a drive to the city from the airport. When they tried to escape, one of them died while another broke his leg. The third man was rescued unhurt. The three men had came here looking for greener pastures.

The three were handcuffed and kept in an apartment unit in Pinggiran Batu Caves while their abductors tried to contact their families for ransom.

This was disclosed by one of the victims, Mohammad Mihilar, 32, who is currently nursing a broken leg at Selayang Hos-pital.

Speaking from his hospital bed yesterday, Mohammad told the New Straits Times that they arrived at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport from Colombo on Thursday.

"A man told us that he could take us in his van to the city cheaply and we agreed. There was another man waiting in the van," Mohammad said.

The driver drove to Pinggiran Batu Caves and the three foreigners were told to get off. Three other men confronted Mohammad and his two friends, Samsudeen and Sarifdeen.

"One of them identified himself as a cop and searched us," said Mohammad, adding that the three men took US$14,000 (RM44,000) and gemstones worth Rs600,000 (RM40,000), from them.

"They also snatched our passports and it was then I realised we were in serious trouble."

The victims had black hoods placed over their heads and were taken to a flat where they were stripped naked and handcuffed.

The victims were kept apart in two rooms.

"We were beaten and tortured for three days and were not given any food or water for refusing to give them the contact details of our families in Sri Lanka.

"The suspects used masks as they assaulted us with iron rods, water hose and hot iron," Mohammad said.

Samsudeen and Sarifdeen could not take the beatings and gave in to their captors's demands.

The suspects then contacted the families and demanded a ransom of US$35,000 (RM110,000) for their release.

"They threatened to poison me when I refused to give them what they wanted and due to that I was severely beaten up."

On Sunday morning, when one of the kidnappers was asleep, Mohammad and Samsudeen asked the other kidnapper if they could go to the toilet and requested that the handcuffs be removed.

It was then that the two men decided to make their escape.

"As I was heading to the toilet, I turned around and kicked the kidnapper before running out of the flat. I ran up to the rooftop of the flat and jumped off to escape."

Mohammad broke a leg in the fall. However, Samsudeen wasn't that lucky. He jumped out of an open window and fell to his death.

A passer-by who witnessed the incident contacted police who arrived at the scene and rescued Sarifdeen who was handcuffed in another room in the flat. They also arrested both suspects.

Police also found a video recording of the kidnappers torturing their victims.

Gombak police chief Assistant Commissioner Abdul Rahim Abdullah said one of the suspects was a police volunteer reserve member attached to the Brickfields police station.

"We are looking for three other suspects," he said, adding that the case was being investigated as kidnapping and murder.

Rahim said Samsudeen's family were on their way to collect his remains to be taken back to Sri Lanka, while Sarifdeen was in police custody to help with the investigations.