SLUMP IN KIDNAPPING

Evening Star, Issue 23335, 3 August 1939, Page 12

SLUMP IN KIDNAPPING

EASTERN WAR CAUSES CRIME TO DEGREASE

One of the worst forma of crime in Shangnai and one wlncu over a period ot years nas given the police oi all areas unlimited trouble, has been almost eiimmaied as tue result of tne peculiar circumstances prevailing in the city at tne present time. Kidnapping in its old term lias almost disappeared. The risks to-day are too great, the area of operation too circumscribed, and very few opportunities for exploiting the crime of abduction for ransom now present themselves, says a Shanghai newspaper. The kidnapping business, which was carried on with considerable profit a few years ago, is now practically extinct. Last year there were only five true cases of kidnapping in the International Settlement; not one case has been reported this year. There are several factors accounting for the slump iu this particular form of racket, in many respects these factors are the outcome of_ the recent Sino-Japanese hostilities iu this area and sunrounding districts. Strange as it may seem, the present overcrowding of the city, the scarcity of residential accommodation, and the fact that there is not a house empty iu either the settlement south of the creek or French Concession have contributed to the lull in kidnapping. Country districts adjacent to the city are no longer localities to which victims may be transported and held securely till ransom is paid or the abducted person is disposed of. The presence of troops of different nationalities has been a marked deterrent on kidnappers. Another important reason for the falling off in kidnapping is that the strict searches conducted by patrols have checked speeding motor cars containing victims from passing into comparatively isolated territory without examination.

The procedure of gangs in the heyday of kidnapping in this city was relatively simple compared with the hazards with which gangs would have to contend to-day. In days prior to the local hostilities it was a common method of abductors to waylay a victim, whisk him into a motor car under the threat of pistols, shoot at any interferors, and travel at reckless speed to the hide-out which might he in extra-settlement territory, on a small native boat in one of the numerous creeks, in a hut in some nearby country district, or even in ouo of the many imtenantcd l houses

which were to bo found in large numbers prior to the influx of refugees. Now there is little possibility of such modus operandi proving successful. Conditions preventing this are numerous. Tn the first place it is well-nigh impossible for any speeding motor car to pass through the militarv barricades which to-day surround the limits of the city. Should it bo decided by a gang to hold a victim within the settlement of French Concession the risks are far greater to-day than a year or so back. It is safe to state that there is not a house vacant in the settlement. All of which leaves practically no opportunity for a safe hide-out in the city proper. To attempt to hold a victim tor any length of time in any of the Chinese hotels, lodging houses, 'or overcrowded dwellings in the city would he au act of folly.