The picture shows the gate of the Jinxi County Public Security Bureau. Xinhua News Agency reporter Hu Jinwu took the photo.
Xinhua News Agency, Nanchang, December 30th (reporter Hu Jinwu) - Recently, it was reported online that when investigating a child kidnapping case, the Jinxi County Public Security Bureau in Jiangxi Province asked the family of the kidnapped child to raise money for the ransom. Although the hostage was rescued, the family said they were not informed whether the ransom was paid to the kidnappers or how much was paid, and hoped the police would explain or recover the ransom.
Video: The Jinxi Police Breaking Kidnapping Case by Collecting Ransom First is Questioned. Source: Dragon TV's "Oriental Noon News"
Netizens questioned the way the Jinxi police handled the case, thinking the public security bureau had become a "bargaining bureau." Moreover, who should bear the ransom, the transparency of the payment process, and the monitoring of the use of the ransom also sparked extensive discussions among netizens.
Did the police collect the ransom on behalf of the kidnappers?
Recently, a Weibo user named "@Qingtai" who claimed to be a farmer from Jinxi County posted online: On December 1st, his child was kidnapped, and he reported it to the police. The next day, the police told him the kidnappers wanted 120,000 yuan. On the fourth day, he handed over 20,000 yuan borrowed from everywhere to the police. The police said they couldn't issue a receipt. At 10 p.m. that night, the child was redeemed. The police said it cost 60,000 yuan to redeem the child, but the kidnappers were not caught.
This Weibo post triggered discussions among netizens. A netizen named "Le'an Publishing" said: "If the kidnappers can't be caught and the ransom still needs to be paid, anyone could do this, so what are the police for?" Netizen "Fen Tou 1991" expressed: "I always feel there's darkness behind this, I don't dare to think, if the police are with the kidnappers, what else can we rely on?" Another netizen, "Liangban Fen Ya," said: "In this era, when children are kidnapped, even the police collect money. There's no place where you can't make money!"
Police response: This move is "letting go to catch the snake."
To understand the ins and outs of this incident, the reporter went to the scene of the kidnapping - Youlu Village in Xiugou Town, Jinxi County, on the 27th.
Recalling this kidnapping incident, Hu Panpan, the father of the kidnapped child, is still haunted by fear. Hu Panpan recalled that on December 1st, while still working in Xi'an, he received a call from home, learning that his 5-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son had gone missing. He rushed home overnight. That evening, his daughter, drenched, returned home. From her young daughter, she learned that she had been dropped off on the side of the road by someone on a motorcycle, while her younger brother was nowhere to be found. At around 8 p.m. on the 2nd, a bottle was placed at Hu's doorstep, with a note inside saying: "Contact number: 18797842518." However, no matter how Hu Panpan and his wife Li Qingxia tried to call this number, it remained unconnected.
On the morning of December 3rd, the investigating police officer notified Hu Panpan, "Don't call that number anymore, we've already contacted them, just wait for news at home." "That night, a leader from the Public Security Bureau told me they needed 20,000 yuan as ransom. I said I couldn't come up with it, and he said let's figure it out together." Hu Panpan said. On the morning of the 4th, the same leader from the Public Security Bureau met him again and said, "We didn't negotiate successfully with the kidnappers; they want 120,000 yuan, quickly raise the money." In the afternoon of the 4th, Hu Panpan gave the Public Security Bureau 19,000 yuan borrowed from various sources. "But the Public Security Bureau said this money couldn't have a receipt." That evening, Hu Panpan received a call from the Public Security Bureau saying, "The child has been successfully rescued, it cost a total of 60,000 yuan, and the police officers advanced 41,000 yuan."
"This case handling process had both successful experiences and aspects worth discussing," said Zhou Qingchun, deputy director of the Jinxi County Public Security Bureau. They adopted the method of "letting go to catch the snake" with the aim of ensuring the safety of the hostage first.
The case materials provided by the Jinxi County Public Security Bureau stated, "From the height of protecting people's lives and property and fully maintaining social stability, the criminal investigation team of the Jinxi County Public Security Bureau disguised themselves as family members of the hostages to contact the kidnappers. Through meticulous planning, the hostages were successfully rescued, but the suspects escaped." On December 24th, 20 days after the rescue of the hostages, the suspect Hu Moumou suspected of kidnapping was arrested.
Ransom payment and its destination spark discussion
Although this case has been solved, a series of issues related to the ransom have caused different opinions among the victim's family, public security organs, and legal experts.
Since the 19,000 yuan borrowed from all directions is equivalent to a huge sum for the financially struggling Hu family, facing media interviews, Hu Panpan and his wife Li Qingxia expressed their hope to recover the ransom "wasted" by the kidnapper.
"I risked my child being killed by reporting it to the police, but then the police asked the family for money to redeem the person. So why didn't we directly deal with the kidnappers? Throughout the process, I never talked to or met the kidnappers, why wasn't the process of paying the ransom transparent? Now it's said that the ransom has been wasted, so who should pay for it?" said Hu Panpan and his wife.
"Once the ransom isn't paid, there's an 80% chance the hostage will be killed, so we considered using this solution," said Zhou Qingchun. As for the ransom, there is no budget for such funds, so both the Public Security Bureau and the family thought of ways, and the investigating police officers also contributed a lot of money. Zhou Qingchun counter-asked, "Does every occurrence mean the government pays the bill? Should the government pay the ransom demanded by the kidnappers? Can the government afford it? One case might be manageable, but if there are 100 kidnapping cases in a year, can the government afford it?"
Regarding this, Yan Sanzhong, Director of the Law Department of the College of Political Science and Law at Jiangxi Normal University and Standing Director of the Jiangxi Crime Society, believed that this case exposed three important issues worthy of attention: first, ensuring the safety of hostages is paramount, but combating crime is also the responsibility of the public security department. Only when there are no other options should the police resort to paying ransom to rescue the hostages; second, did the ransom go to the kidnappers? How much was paid? The victims have the right to know. The police should provide recordings or videos of the "transaction" with the kidnappers to dispel doubts; third, after the kidnappers receive the ransom, even if the criminals aren't captured on the spot, the police must monitor the use of the ransom. If the ransom cannot ultimately be recovered, it indicates some negligence in the investigation, and the victims can demand economic compensation from the public security department.