With the kidnapping saga of Anisah Moosa in March still fresh in mind Police made a breakthrough in another case of abduction by arresting three suspects who are expected to appear in the Tzaneen Magistrate’s Court today (Thursday).
Two recent kidnapping incidents involving Bangladeshi nationals in Tzaneen and Mankweng have raised concern among both the Indian community and the Police.
A source close to the investigations in two recent kidnapping cases which saw investigators taking extreme measures to rescue one of the victims, said kidnappings among the Indian and Bangladeshi communities have become commonplace in South Africa occuring almost on a weekly basis.
“The problem is the Bangladeshi nationals are allegedly entering the country as economic refugees but are staying in South Africa with a political asylum. They allegedly kidnap their own people to get money for themselves or money for their families in Bangladesh,” the anonymous source said.
He referred to a kidnapping in Mankweng in September where the investigating team had to go to the extreme of arresting the kidnapper’s family in Bangladesh before he would release his hostage. “The Bangladeshi suspect kidnapped one of his own countrymen and demanded R500 000 for his release. After several negotiations and almost 11 days later R5 000 was paid via a cash transfer service to the kidnapper who promised to release the victim at 21:00 that evening. He then wanted more money and the investigating team decided to set a trap for his family in Bangladesh.”
When they arrested his uncle, cousin and a third person in Bangladesh the kidnapper released his victim by dropping him off in Hammanskraal where Police picked him up.
“No successful arrest had been made in South Africa yet.”
In the most recent incident of a Bangladeshi citizen allegedly kidnapped in a village outside Tzaneen a first suspect was arrested three days later when the victim’s cell phone was traced to a flat in Benoni. Long and intense investigation yielded the arrest of two more suspects, a Bangladeshi and Pakistani, in the same Gauteng suburb last Thursday.
“The victim, a shop owner noticed thee suspicious looking men outside his shop. Two came in and bought bread, cold drinks and cigarettes and sat outside the store entrance. A third man who was waiting in a parked vehicle got out and bought an energy drink before getting back into the car. When the shop owner’s assistant noticed that something was wrong four men stormed into the shop and forced both shop owner and assistant into the storeroom,” he said. The fourth is suspected to have hidden on the backseat of the’ vehicle.
The suspects allegedly beat the owner and his assistant and later forced the owner into the car and drove in the direction of Nelspruit. Along the way one suspect allegedly got out and the others drove to Benoni from where they started phoning friends of the victim claiming ransom of R1 million.
“An investigation team was established and traced the cell phone to a flat where Police arrested one suspect who was holding the victim hostage with a toy gun. Interrogation led to the arrest of the remaining two,” he said.
Tzaneen Police Cluster Commander Thomas Shingange confirmed the cases and said kidnappings are becoming more common and should be taken seriously.
“We had three serious kidnapping incidents this year. It seems the latest tendency is Bangladeshi nationals abducting their own people for ransom. We made a breakthrough with the arrest of the three suspects recently and hope that a guilty verdict will serve as warning to potential kidnappers,” Shingange said.
He said all kidnapping cases are taken seriously as abductors are normally armed and dangerous and advised victims to cooperate.
Story: RC Myburgh
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