MyAdhan Blog

Link: Pakistani arrested over Sharlinie SMS prank

Police have arrested a Pakistani who allegedly demanded RM25,000 from Sharlinie Mohd Nashar’s family for her safe return. The suspect, in his 20s, was picked up by policemen at his rented residence in Kajang on Saturday afternoon. He had allegedly sent a text message to Sharlinie’s family last Friday. It is learnt that the text message was simple, stating that Sharlinie was being held in Sabah and if they wanted her back safely, they had to pay RM25,000 and they were told not to inform the police. However, shortly after receiving the text message, Sharlinie’s family alerted the police and the task force responsible for locating her whereabouts swung into action. Police managed to locate the suspect and a team was sent to apprehend him. It is understood that the suspect entered the country legally and is involved in the information technology industry. He has been remanded until Mar 26 to facilitate investigations. Selangor CID chief SAC II Mazlan Mansor confirmed the arrest and warned pranksters not to have fun at other people’s expense as police would come down hard on them. The suspect is being investigated under Section 363 and 507 of the Penal Code for kidnapping and criminal intimidation. This is not the first time that pranksters and opportunists have attempted to take advantage of those whose children have been abducted. In Jan 10, a 27-year-old Indonesian woman sent a threatening text message to Mohd Nashar saying his daughter had been abducted out of revenge and would be released in several days. The woman, who works as a maid in Johor, was picked up by police and brought to Selangor where she was charged with criminal intimidation. She was later sentenced to seven months jail after she pleaded guilty. A 16-year-old student was picked up by police at his home in Bagan Serai on Jan 15 for attempting to extort money from Sharlinie’s parents. The student was arrested after police followed up on several calls received by the missing girl’s family. It was reported that the teenager had made calls for several days before his arrest. He allegedly demanded that Sharlinie’s parents pay RM5,000 for news on the girl. He had also asked the parents to reload RM200 credit into his prepaid cell phone line.