Sandakan Kidnap: 'Large ransom' demanded by captors, says Sabah police

KOTA KINABALU (The Star/Asia News Network) - Gunmen believed to be holding two Malaysians kidnapped from a restaurant in Sabah have contacted the victims' families with demands for a "large" ransom, said police in the eastern Malaysian state.

The sum demanded by the gunmen was "large", said Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Jalaluddin Abdul Rahman, according to a report published by The Star online on Sunday. It said Jalaluddin declined to state the amount.

He said the victims, restaurant manager Thien Nyuk Fun, 50, and electrical consultant Bernard Then Ted Fen, 39, were allowed to speak to with their family members.

The two were abducted from the seaside Ocean King seafood restaurant, some 3km from Sandakan town, on Thursday by gunmen suspected to be linked to Philippines' Abu Sayyaf militants.