KZN kidnap kingpin wanted R5 million

A plot to kidnap children in Pietermaritzburg was foiled over the weekend when undercover police agents swooped on the suspect who runs a cellular business in downtown Church Street, Public Eye reports.

47-year-old Asif Mohammed was arrested over the weekend and appeared in court on Monday facing charges of conspiracy to kidnapping. He was denied bail pending further investigations to establish the status of his residency in South Africa.

The tightly-knit Pakistani business community distanced themselves from the suspect saying he was an unknown figure.

“We don’t know who he is. We don’t know what he does,” said one Pakistani businessman who also runs a cellular business in the area.

A 15-year-old girl, who claimed to be Mohammed’s daughter, said she was running the business for her father, following his arrest. She said that both her dad and her were South African citizens and that she had been born and raised in the country.

Mohammed was arrested by two undercover police officers in a joint operation by the Pietermaritzburg Director of Priority Crimes Investigation (DPCI), the KZN Electronic Surveillance Unit and the Intelligence Collection head office on Friday afternoon at his business premises (a cellphone and electronics shop) on Church Street.

State prosecutor Rene Padayachee asked that bail be opposed for the following reasons: to verify if Mohammed was in the country legally, the seriousness of the offence, and the safety of state witnesses.

“The accused had told the undercover agents that a ransom of R5 million was to be asked for once they had the victim.”

Two police agents from the Multi-Dimensional Crime Intelligence (MDOC) obtained the last evidence regarding the planned kidnapping of the son of a Pietermaritzburg businessman.

Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi spokesperson for the Hawks said, several undercover operations were conducted where the suspect allegedly gave a detailed description of his first target, the safe house where the victim would be held as well as other electronic tools that would have been utilised during and after the alleged kidnapping.

“The suspect allegedly provided detailed plans of how the kidnappings would be executed and how to use the instruments, before the kidnapping was foiled by the Hawks and Crime Intelligence operations. The suspect was arrested at his business premises. Additional arrests and charges are possible in the on-going investigation.”

A source close to the investigation said police swooped on the suspect as they believed the attempt to kidnap the child was imminent.

“The suspect gave the undercover agents a packet with about 20 international Sim cards that would have been used to execute the planned kidnapping. He wrote the name and details of the first victim and gave precise details on how the kidnapping would be carried out,” said the source.

Mohammed will be held in custody at the New Prison until his formal bail application on October 15.