MBOMBELA – Two Pakistani nationals and three South Africans are being charged with kidnapping and extortion after kidnapping a six-year-old pupil of Valencia Islamic School and demanding a ransom of R1 million from his family.
The suspects are aged between 19 and 30 and were scheduled to appear in court today. According to provincial police spokesman Col Leonard Hlathi, the boy’s father sent someone to the school to fetch his son at about 16:10 on Friday. “However, the person was told that the boy had already been collected by a relative,” Hlathi said.
At about 19:30 that night, the father was called by somebody who demanded R1 million for the release of his son. He immediately notified the police and an investigation was launched.
“In the meantime the father received threats that the boy would be harmed from different numbers,” Hlathi added. The following day 09:24, the father received another SMS, instructing him to have the money ready as the suspects were about to harm the boy. Police managed to track down the location of the suspects and discussions between police negotiators and the suspects began. “We then discovered that more suspects were involved in the kidnapping,” Hlathi said.
“During these negotiations it was agreed that they (the suspects) would meet the father at a shopping area at Lydenburg. They suddenly changed the meeting venue to be a graveyard at Lydenburg. While police were on their way there, they came across the suspects’ vehicle and followed it. The suspects became alert and sped off. Police gave chase and they (suspects) drove into the bushes, alighted and fled the scene on foot with the boy,” Hlathi said.
The suspects later returned to the vehicle and sped off, but police managed to corner them and arrested five suspects. The boy was handed over to his father, unharmed. The outcome of the court case is pending.
