KUALA LUMPUR: The furore over the kidnapping of Dutch boy Nayati Shamelin Moodliar may have subsided, but for the police, the case is far from closed.

Despite three suspects already in court facing charges of kidnapping the 12-year-old, police are still in the hunt for the elusive mastermind behind the kidnapping.

City criminal investigation department chief Datuk Ku Chin Wah said police cannot reveal much at this stage, but confirmed that the manhunt for the main suspect is still ongoing.

He said they are currently monitoring the movements of the chief suspect.

"We are constantly monitoring information on the possible whereabouts of the mastermind," he told Malaysian Digest yesterday.

The main suspect is believed to have fled the country to Europe, shortly after the arrest of his three accomplices.

Ku also did not rule out the possibility of working with Interpol to nab the mastermind. This will, however, depend on how soon they narrow down the suspect's location.

"We will liaise with Interpol and foreign authorities once we have narrowed down his whereabouts," he said.

Nayati was kidnapped on April 27 this year while on his way to his school in Mont Kiara. Two men had pulled him into their car and sped off.

Hours after the kidnapping, Nayati's parents held a Press conference on the issue and within hours, posters of the missing boy were distributed in the Klang Valley.

Nayati's parents then received a ransom demand via Facebook, and subsequent negotiations were done via the social networking site.

It was later learnt that the boy was taken by the kidnappers to a rented house in Chemor where he was held for six days. He was released at the Sungai Buloh R&R area after his family paid the RM300,000 ransom.

Police had formed a special task force to track down the suspects and succeeded in arresting three of the kidnappers, as well as recovering a portion of the ransom.

The ringleader, a 24-year-old man, was however believed to have escaped in May on a Paris-bound flight.

Three men, Chong Tat Siong, 23, Foong Khar Fai, 19, and Lee Phak Seng, 23, were subsequently charged with kidnapping. It was later learnt that this was their first kidnap attempt.

The case was transferred to the KL High Court last month.

The drama captured the public imagination and even made the news in the Netherland, the United Kingdom and South Africa.

- mD