Security officers are looking for a gang of suspects behind a hijacking in uMhlanga yesterday afternoon.

According to Reaction Unit South Africa (RUSA) spokesperson Prem Balram, the vehicle, a Mercedes Benz E200, was abandoned and set on fire a short while later on Tea Estate near Inanda.

The driver, who was allegedly kidnapped by the hijackers, was left on the side of the road while the contents of the vehicle had been removed.

“When our reaction officers and paramedics arrived on scene, they found the vehicle parked alongside a sugar cane plantation and engulfed in flames. We interviewed the driver who said he was transporting four boxes for his employer and stopped on Zenith Drive, uMhlanga, to top the car with coolant when he realised the vehicle was overheating.

“He was then accosted by two gunmen who forced him into the rear seat at gunpoint and drove to Inanda. A second group of suspects followed him in a White Toyota, and when they arrived at Tea Estate, the driver was let out of the vehicle. The boxes were loaded into the suspect’s vehicle. They then set the Mercedes Benz alight and fled. It could not be confirmed if an accelerant was used,” he said.

Balram added that the driver of the vehicle was not sure what the boxes contained.