A dentist and two other people have been arrested on suspicion of kidnapping a 17-year-old girl for ransom over a monetary dispute with her father, police said Saturday.
The police alleged that Akihiro Taguma, a 46-year-old dentist living in Naha, the capital of Okinawa Prefecture, and one of his two coconspirators summoned a 40-year-old dental technician from Ginowan and his 17-year-old daughter to his clinic in Urasoe on April 2, where they bound his hands and feet.
Taguma and Maki Yatomi, 28, of Tokyo, allegedly demanded 6 million yen -- an amount they said the dental technician owed them -- in return for freeing the girl.
The pair allegedly confined her for three hours before putting her on a plane at Naha airport bound for Tokyo's Haneda airport, where the third suspect, Satoshi Ochiai, 29, of Tokyo, was allegedly waiting to pick her up.
However, police were able to rescue her at Haneda because the father, who had been freed by the pair, dashed to Urasoe Police Station and told officers what had happened. The Tokyo police were aided by the fact that the plane had been delayed.
Taguma and Yatomi were originally arrested April 3 on suspicion of confining the dental technician. Police announced details of the case after arresting Ochiai on Saturday.