Kidnapped HK tycoon rescued

TAIPEI: A kidnapped Hong Kong tycoon has been freed in a dramatic rescue after he was held captive for more than a month by criminals who demanded a HK$70 million (RM38 million) ransom, Taiwan authorities said yesterday.

Wong Yuk-kwan, chairman of Hong Kong-listed Pearl Oriental Oil exploration company, was found manacled and beaten up on Tuesday in a village in western Taiwan after being abducted outside the capital Taipei on Sept 20, according to authorities.

Television footage of the rescue operation showed the 67-year-old looking scrawny and frightened as he sat on the floor of a barren room with his feet cuffed.

His faced was bruised and he was clutching his legs, which were covered in cuts.

Fifteen people were arrested over the abduction, including a man suspected of masterminding the kidnapping. – AFP