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Kidnapped Vereeniging businessman rescued unharmed, three arrested
Kidnapped businessman Zaheer Asmal was rescued by police at a house in Lenasia South.
The house where businessman Zaheer Asmal was found in Lenasia. Photo: SAPS
A Vereeniging businessman has been rescued unharmed during an intelligence driven operation by the National Crime Intelligence Anti-Kidnapping Task Team.
Zaheer Asmal, from Fred’s Hardware store in De Deur, was kidnapped on Friday morning after a group of suspects forced him into a black bakkie.
Police spokesperson Colonel Athlenda Mathe said a multi-disciplinary operation consisting of members of the Special Task Force (STF), the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) assisted by private security made the breakthrough just before midnight on Monday.
“The team swooped in at three identified addresses, one in Lenasia South where the victim was found unharmed. At this address, police arrested the owner of the property, a 70-year-old Mozambican national.”
Watch: Kidnapping of Zaheer Asmal
Mathe said authorities pounced on two other properties and arrested two more people in connection with the kidnapping of Asmal.
“In Ennerdale they found a dark grey Toyota Hilux and fake registration number plates which was utilised in the commission of the crime. One suspect, a Malawian national, was arrested. When police arrived at the third address in Roodepoort, police were met with gunfire. One suspect, a South African national, was arrested. One unlicensed firearm was also seized.”
Mathe said all three suspects are facing charges relating to kidnapping and robbery with aggravated circumstances, while the South African national is facing additional charges of possession of an unlicensed firearm as well as attempted murder.
In the past week, the task team had arrested at least eight suspects, including a 37-year-old man believed to be the mastermind and alleged kingpin behind a spate of high-profile kidnappings in Gauteng and Mozambique.
The man and three people believed to be his accomplices were handcuffed during an intelligence driven operation in Brackenhurst, east of Johannesburg, on Wednesday.
During the operation, police seized three high-powered vehicles, 6,000 Mandrax tablets, cash, a receipt for a R1.9 million property in Bryanston and several high-end luxury brand clothing items.
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