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Two men who worked as clowns "Pistachon" and "Freski Star" in western Mexico have been arrested in connection with an alleged kidnapping, authorities said Thursday, according to the Voice of Russia.

The two suspects kidnapped a young man in the state capital Morelia on December 18 when they met him to rent video and sound equipment for a show.

The two, aged 21 and 22, were detained along with two associates on Tuesday as they tried to collect a second payment from the family of the victim, the Michoacan state prosecutor's office said in a statement.

They demanded a 100,000-peso ($7,500) ransom but accepted a first payment of $1,500 and freed their hostage pending a second payment of almost $2,000.

The pair, who are linked to at least one other kidnapping, were not in their clown suits at the time of their arrest, authorities said.

While statistics showed that murders fell nationwide last year, kidnappings have soared, with interior ministry figures showing 1,583 abductions between January and November compared to 1,317 in all of 2012.

But a survey by the national statistics institute revealed a more startling figure of more than 105,000 kidnappings in 2012 in the country of 118 million people, or almost 290 per day.

It is also the second crime involving clowns in recent months in Mexico.

In October, former drug capo Francisco Arellano Felix was shot dead by a man in a clown suit and makeup at a party in the northwestern beach resort of Cabo San Lucas.

However, scary clowns attack people not only in Mexico. Last spring, Daily Mail reported the arrest of a professional clown for kidnapping and raping a 12-year-old girl while wearing his clown mask and make-up.

Jose Guadalupe Jimenez of LA, whose clown name was "El Tin Larin", was accused of taking the girl to a school car park, raping her, taking her to a nearby motel and molesting her before she managed to escape.

The 41-year-old was linked to the crime which took place in Orange County, California in 2002 through DNA after he was arrested last year for an unrelated crime, police said.His arrest a year ago in Newport Beach was on suspicion of physically abusing a child. That case is still pending as according to Fullerton Police Sgt. Andrew Goodrich: "The problem was, the only description we had was "a clown."

Goodrich said detectives were asking for the public's help in identifying possible additional victims of Jimenez, who for the past nine years has performed as a clown at parties.

"Who knows how many other possible victims there might be," he said.

"We're hoping that any past victims might recognize him, both with or without his clown make-up, and come forward."

And this autumn Lancashire police had to combat panic caused byt social media rumours about a clown kidnapping children in Haslingden.

In a statement, the force said: "The Haslingden Neighborhood Policing Team have been made aware of a rumour circulating in the area regarding several people in Haslingden being dressed up as clowns and using scare tactics to kidnap children and take them away in vehicles.

Other clown-related rumours are also being circulated on Facebook. We would like to assure parents and local residents that nothing of this nature has taken place in the area and this is a hoax.

Please reassure your children that they are safe to walk home from school etc."