KUANTAN, March 5 — The High Court here today sentenced two men to five years’ jail each after they pleaded guilty to a charge of abducting a businessman with a "Datuk’ title two years ago.

Judge Mariana Yahya handed down the sentence on Ang Boon Leong, 41, and Lim Sin Chye, 46, and ordered them to serve the sentence from the date of their arrest.

Ang, a widower, was arrested on January 7 last year, while Lim, who is self-employed, was arrested on Jan 23 the same year.

In the judgment, Mariana said she agreed with the prosecution that the two accused were lucky that they had been offered an alternative charge, made under Section 365 of the penal Code, from the initial charge under Section 3 of the Kidnapping Act, which provides punishment with death or imprisonment for life, upon conviction.

Ang and Lim were charged with kidnapping Chin Yoke Choon, 55, at 5.55 pm on Dec 26, 2015 at the car park of Hotel Seri Manja Boutique, Jalan IM7/1, Bandar Indera Mahkota here.

The two men were represented by lawyer S. Parameswaran, while deputy public prosecutors Datuk Faridz Gohim Abdullah and Muhamad Asyraf Md Kamal prosecuted.

According to the facts of the case, Chin was abducted as he was leaving the hotel using a silver-coloured Proton Preve car which had a logo of the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM).

He was wrongfully confined for 74 days at Putra Heights and Taman Bayu Emas, Klang, in Selangor prior to his release after his family paid a ransom of RM19 million in Malaysian and Singapore currency. — Bernama