China, Russia police crack transnational murder case

BEIJING - Four suspects have been seized in China and Russia for allegedly kidnapping and murdering two Chinese citizens in Russia, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

In a Saturday statement, the ministry said the two victims, both from northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, were kidnapped on April 9, 2012 in south Russia's Irkutsk for a ransom of 4 million yuan ($649,000).

After the victim's relatives lost contact with them, despite having already paid 1.6 million yuan, local police found the victims' bodies alongside a river on April 11, the statement said.

The ministry, citing Russian police, said the four suspects are all of Chinese nationality.

Following joint investigations by Chinese and Russian police, two male suspects from northeast China's Jilin Province were arrested in China at the end of 2012. With the suspects' help, a 35-year-old male suspect surnamed Zhang from neighboring Heilongjiang Province was nabbed in Russia and escorted back to China.

A 32-year-old Heilongjiang native surnamed Jia, the fourth and leading suspect in the case, was arrested and escorted back from Russia in April.