SINGAPORE — The two alleged kidnappers arrested for last week’s kidnapping of Madam Ng Lye Poh, the 79-year-old mother of Sheng Siong supermarket chain Chief Executive Lim Hock Chee, were “caught by surprise” when the police swooped in.

Heng Chen Boon, a 50-year-old credit card salesman, was arrested at a Hougang flat, while supermarket odd-job worker Lee Sze Yong, 41, was nabbed in a car park at Ang Mo Kio Ave 10 in the early hours of Jan 9.

“They were caught by surprise because they were arrested not too long after the victim was released,” said Deputy Assistant Commissioner of Police (DAC) Adrian Quek, who led a team of investigators in cracking Singapore’s first kidnapping case in more than a decade. The arrests of the two men were simultaneous, he told reporters yesterday.

DAC Quek, who is the Assistant Director of Criminal Investigation Department’s Major Crime Division, was among the more than 39 police officers who received the Minister for Home Affairs Operational Excellence Award from Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean yesterday.

The men, who included officers from the Police Intelligence Department and the elite Special Tactics and Rescue unit, were recognised for their team work and swift arrest of the two alleged kidnappers. The case was solved within 12 hours of a report made to the police, with Mdm Ng released unharmed and the ransom money of S$2 million fully recovered.

The police were tight lipped when pressed by reporters about the number of officers involved in the operation. Investigators also refused to comment on the missteps the alleged kidnappers took. Among the officers who were lauded, some of their identities were not disclosed, nor were they allowed to be photographed.

DAC Quek, who was also involved in investigations into two kidnapping cases in 2003, said the “successful resolution” of Mdm Ng’s case could be attributed to “three key factors” — the timely reporting by the victim’s family and their willingness to trust and fully cooperate with the police as well as the “close collaboration” among various police departments.