Kidnapped businessman rescued in Alexandra after shootout with alleged kingpin
An Indian businessman kidnapped in July was rescued from a shack in Alexandra on Thursday, hours after a fatal shootout with the alleged kingpin known as ‘Dollarman.’
An Indian businessman was reunited with his family after being rescued from a shack in Alexandra, shortly after midnight on Thursday (September 4).
The South African Police Service (SAPS) Anti-Kidnapping Task Team located him following a shootout near the R21 in Kempton Park on Wednesday evening (September 3), where the alleged mastermind of his kidnapping, known as ‘Dollarman,’ was killed.
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The national police spokesperson, Brigadier Athlenda Mathe, said Dollarman was a wanted suspect in South Africa, linked to at least five cases of kidnapping-for-ransom, housebreaking, carjacking, and possession of unlicensed firearms. She also revealed that he was listed on SERNIC, Mozambique’s wanted persons database, for similar crimes, and had warrants issued for his arrest in that country.
Mathe confirmed that the task team had been investigating the kidnapping of an Indian businessman, who was abducted in July this year at his business premises in Benoni. She said that after the shootout, the team continued searching for the victim.
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Last night, she revealed that SAPS is linking Dollarman to multiple cases of economic kidnapping. “What our team has already discovered is that millions of rands were paid into his bank account in relation to the kidnapping of the Indian businessman,” she told Newzroom Africa.
Mathe said such kidnappings were not random but involved extensive research. “They target businessmen, they know that once they start making demands for those millions of rands, they would be able to afford those sums of money.”
The rescue forms part of the police’s broader crackdown on organised crime. Mathe revealed that the task team has made significant progress. Since July 2021, the team has arrested more than 337 kidnappers and seized more than 146 illegal firearms. In the past week alone, Operation Shanela led to 14 773 arrests for various crimes, including murder and rape, with 163 illegal firearms confiscated.
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