Three Chinese suspects were arrested on Wednesday in Phnom Penh for kidnapping and extortion before one escaped.

The remaining two are being questioned and sent to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on charges they illegally kidnapped three Chinese victims and held them in a rented house in Sen Sok district’s O’Bek Ka’am commune.

Sen Sok district police chief Hour Meng Van told The Post on Thursday that one of the victims told police the perpetrators demanded tens of thousands of dollars from them.

“We are questioning the victims and the suspects in order to make a report and file a case in court,” Meng Van said.

O’Bek Ka’am commune police chief Neang Phally said on Thursday that authorities asked a Chinese translator to get the names of the victims and suspects.

The three victims who ranged in age from 18 to 31 were abducted while leaving work at a shop at midnight on Monday.

As they headed to a rented room, a car with three Chinese men pulled up. The victims were handcuffed, pushed into a car and driven to Phnom Penh.

They were detained at a rented house and tortured. The suspects demanded tens of thousands of dollars and used electric shocks on their faces. One of the victims handed over 200,000 yuan ($30,000) in Chinese currency.

The suspects in custody are both aged 28 and were living in Trong Moan village, in Sen Sok district’s O’Bek Ka’am commune.

Meng Van said: “On the night of July 29, one of the victims ran out of the house and asked Khmer citizens to help and call the police. The suspects realised she escaped and collected their belongings. One suspect escaped but the other two were arrested.”