Kidnappers demand ransom payment after kidnapping Australian professor and three PNG associates

Awful new details have come to light as kidnappers have demanded a ransom payment after taking hostage an Australian professor.

Kidnappers have demanded a ransom payment after taking hostage an Australian professor and his three Papua New Guinean associates in the country’s remote highlands.

The academic team, who were conducting research work near Mount Bosavi, on the borders of the Hela province, were unexpectedly “sighted by chance” by an armed group who abducted them.

According to the PNG Police, the kidnappers are “opportunists” and are demanding a ransom for the release of the researchers.

However, one of the local guides reportedly decided to stay with the researchers, even after being offered his freedom.

In a press conference, Police Commissioner David Manning confirmed that “specialised security force personnel will use whatever means necessary” to ensure the release of the hostages.

“These are opportunists that have obviously not thought this situation through before they acted, and have been asking for cash to be paid,” Mr Manning said.

He warned the captors that their failure to comply and resist arrest could have deadly consequences.

The group that has kidnapped the four hostages is believed to hail from Komo in Hela Province and was returning from the village of Kamusi when they chanced upon the researchers.

Police have appealed to the kidnappers to release the hostages immediately, urging them to rethink their actions and the gravity of their situation.

The Australian professor is being held alongside three Papua New Guinean women, including a highly respected program co-ordinator and two University of PNG graduates, one of whom is believed to be a museum officer.

Kidnappers have demanded a ransom payment after taking hostage an Australian professor and his three Papua New Guinean associates in the country’s remote highlands.

The ongoing hostage situation has sparked concern and raised questions about the security and safety of researchers working in remote areas of PNG.

According to Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape, there have been ongoing negotiations between the authorities and the kidnappers, who are reportedly holding the hostages in a remote area.

Mr Marape emphasised his government has been working behind the scenes, with police and military forces ready to assist the safe release of the hostages.

“I just want to inform the families of those taken hostage that we have been at work and contact has been made with people in the bush,” he said.

“We‘ve got police and military on standby to assist. But, in the first instance, we want those criminals to release those who are held in captivity.

“We have been keeping this under close wraps because of the sensitivity and the need for us to get our friends [who were] captured, get them alive and safe.”

Local businessman Andrew Awabi said news of the kidnapping had spread, with residents in the region eager to help out in any way.

“We are living in scattered villages in a very thick forest so we could not be able to locate them and there is no network there to contact them and identify them,” Awabi said via the ABC.

“The news has already been spread out, so now the people from each of the villages are trying to get into the forest and trying to trace them and find them.”