Kidnapped businessman rescued from a house in Ekurhuleni
A man, taken against his will and held hostage, has been reunited with his family.
A Portuguese businessman who was kidnapped outside his business in Bramley, Johannesburg, was rescued from a house in Kempton Park in Ekurhuleni yesterday afternoon.
The victim (53), who was kidnapped on Monday evening, has been reunited with his family.
He was found safe by the SAPS National Anti-Kidnapping Task Team.
Nine suspects have been arrested so far.
The Anti-Kidnapping Task Team pounced on the address where the businessman had been kept in Kempton Park and arrested four men and a woman.
At another identified address in Hillbrow, two women and a man were also arrested.
A 41-year-old police officer was also arrested at his place of work.
The syndicate is alleged to be involved in at least five kidnapping cases where Portuguese businessmen were targeted.
They would demand ransom payments from the victims’ families.
No ransom payment was made at the time of the victim’s rescue.
The national commissioner of the SAPS, General Fannie Masemola, says while the organisation is disappointed by the arrest of one of its own, it is pleasing that the organisation is ridding itself of corrupt elements.
“No member of the SAPS is above the law, irrespective of their rank.
“Police officers who are found on the wrong side of the law are dealt with accordingly. We will continue to root out rogue police officers from within our ranks,” says Masemola.
The task team has, from April to date, arrested 70 suspects in Gauteng alone for being linked to kidnapping cases in which ransom demands were made.
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