Hong Kong police have arrested four men on suspicion of false imprisonment after receiving a report from a mother that her 17-year old son was being held over a HK$100,000 (US$12,740) debt.

The mother alerted officers on Saturday night, claiming her son had been kidnapped by his debtors in Mong Kok. They told her she must deliver the money at Tai Po Market MTR station to secure his release, according to the force.

Tai Po Market MTR station.

Acting on intelligence, officers arrested two men, aged 17 and 18, and intercepted a car carrying another two suspects and the victim on Ya Wan Road near the station at around 4am on Sunday. But the suspects inside the vehicle refused to cooperate and the driver sped off towards Fanling. Police immediately gave chase.

The driver, 22, jumped out of the vehicle near the junction of Luen Hing Street and Wo Fung Street and fled toward Wo Tai Street. Officers arrested the 26-year-old passenger and rescued the victim, while the driver was later detained on Fan Leng Lau Road.

The four suspects, believed to have triad background, were arrested on suspicion of false imprisonment, which is punishable by up to seven years’ jail.

Officers from the police’s Tai Po district anti-triad squad were investigating and further arrests were possible, the force said.

Last week, a 51-year-old man was abducted over a HK$3.6 million debt and his body was found on a hillside in Fanling. Two men, one a friend of the victim, were charged with murder.