THE man abducted by slain university student Jamie Gao told how he was brutally bashed after a romance turned sour.

Breaking his silence, Jaiweu Yi, 19, told a British newspaper that he was kidnapped over a love split involving a friend, 18-year-old Alex Li.

“It was because Alex and his girlfriend broke up.” He said they wanted revenge on Alex. “She used Jamie to do it ... to come around and kidnap me.”

Yi said he was bundled into a car by Gao and two other men from his unit in Carlton on March 9. Mr Li, who was not at home, said: “They drove around, through the park and they beat him (Yi) up with fists in the head.” Gao appeared in court on the kidnapping and assault charges only a week before he was allegedly abducted and murdered.

JAMIE GAO SHOCK KIDNAPPING

Detectives are hunting for two mysterious Hong Kong nationals believed to have fled the country after accompanying Jamie Gao to the meeting that led to his death.

Police believe the two young men hold vital clues as to why the drug-dealing business student was allegedly meeting with ex-cops Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara on Tuesday last week.

It appears Gao, 20, drove the two men to the meeting in Arab Road, Padstow in his white Nissan Silvia sedan. He had allegedly told friends that he was going to meet a man called ‘‘Glen’’ and may have been supplied with the drugs by the two Hong Kong men.

CCTV footage allegedly shows the two Hong Kong men waiting as Gao got out of the car carrying a bag containing 3.1kg of the drug ice, worth $3 million on the streets, and met Rogerson and McNamara.

While it is alleged Gao was shot dead within 10 minutes of walking with Rogerson, 73, and McNamara, 55, into unit 803 at the nearby Rent-A-Space storage block, his two Hong Kong friends waited at the car for him for about an hour.

“It seems as though they did not know what was going to happen,” a police source said.

The two Hong Kong men drove around in Gao’s car before dumping it with his wallet and mobile phone inside.

Mr Gao’s mobile phone allegedly contained former Kings Cross detective McNamara’s number.

Rogerson and McNamara are in protective custody after being charged with murdering Gao and supplying methamphetamine. Neither man has been required to enter a plea.