MELAKA, Oct 12 — A woman resorted to fabricating a kidnapping story, demanding a ransom of RM70,000 from her family in a desperate attempt to pay off her debts to ‘Ah Long’ or loan sharks.

Melaka Tengah police chief ACP Christopher Patit said that the 55-year-old woman was arrested around 3.30 am yesterday after she was found at a surau near a petrol station in Taman Sri Maharani, Muar, Johor.

"The woman’s 22-year-old son reported her missing [on Friday] after he received a message from his mother’s phone, stating that she had been kidnapped and demanding RM70,000.

"Prior to that, the woman had asked her son to drop her off at a supermarket in Peringgit at 11.15 am. She exited the car to pay her phone bill but vanished, prompting her son to search the area for more than an hour,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Christopher added that the woman admitted to staging the kidnapping in a desperate bid to settle approximately RM15,000 owed to ten Ah Longs.

He said that the woman claimed she took a bus from Melaka Sentral to Muar but, due to insufficient funds, was forced to use the surau at the petrol station as temporary accommodation.

"The woman also admitted to composing all the WhatsApp messages herself, and the police have seized two phones for further investigation.

"She has been remanded for six days starting [yesterday] to assist with the investigation under Section 363 of the Penal Code,” he said. — Bernama