Danish police Friday said six suspects have been arrested in connection with the kidnapping of a 5-year-old boy who was freed by police a day before, according to dpa. Five of the six defendants, four men and a woman, appeared in court Friday on remand custody hearings suspected of trying to demand ransom from 5-year-old Oliver Chaanhing's family. As the hearing was underway, a sixth suspect was reported to have been arrested. All five defendants who appeared in court were aged between 22 and 24 and of Chinese origin, just like the boy and his parents. The prosecutor said during the proceedings that one of the suspects had telephoned the boy's grandmother and threatened to kill him unless a large ransom was paid. One of the men has admitted to abducting the boy. Two have not entered any pleas while the woman and one man denied the charges, reporters at the court house said. The boy's father, Raymond Chaanhing, said the family was shocked over the abduction, saying that the family that operates several restaurants was not rich, contrary to tabloid reports, he told Danish news agency Ritzau. Two suspects were arrested when police freed the boy late Thursday at student lodgings in the suburb of Hvidovre. Four others, including the woman, were arrested Friday. The boy was held for 26 hours after being snatched from the arms of his mother by three masked men as she left a kindergarten on Wednesday in Virum, a suburb north of Copenhagen. Oliver was "doing okay" and playing with a relative the same age, his father, Raymond Chaanhing, said. Police suspect an Asian mafia of being behind the crime. Danish media reported that 10 years ago, a Chinese gang attempted three kidnappings to get ransom money from restaurant owners of Chinese origin. Eight people were later sentenced in connection with those crimes.
