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Sascha Wil­son

Pe­nal busi­ness­man Michael Ale­jan­dro Es­pana Ram­nath has been re­leased by his cap­tors af­ter a ran­som was paid, po­lice have con­firmed.

The amount paid and the cir­cum­stances sur­round­ing his re­lease have not been dis­closed, but in­ves­ti­ga­tors said he was freed more than a week ago. Ram­nath, 34, who op­er­ates the Best Friends Burg­er Cart with his fa­ther along the SS Erin Road in Pe­nal, was ab­duct­ed around 11 pm on Feb­ru­ary 3 while re­turn­ing home. He and his 65-year-old fa­ther had closed their busi­ness around 10.45 pm and left sep­a­rate­ly in their ve­hi­cles.