Kidnapping suspect arrested after using victim’s bank card to spend R27 000 on clothes

A 26-year-old man suspected of kidnapping was arrested after he used the victim’s bank card to buy R27 000 worth of expensive clothes.

The suspect was arrested by The Hawks on Friday after a joint operation traced him in the Dordrecht area in the Eastern Cape.

He is accused of kidnapping a foreign national from his shop in Dordrecht on 17 July.

Kidnappers took victim’s bank card

Provincial spokesperson for the Hawks, Warrant Officer Ndiphiwe Mhlakuvana, said the victim was forced into a gold Toyota Avanza by four armed men. He was then held by the kidnappers for a few days.

Mhlakuvana said the men took his cash and bank card. They also demanded the pin number for the card.

“The suspects allegedly withdrew an amount of R8 000 from the victim’s bank account using his card. Moreover, the allegations further exposed that the suspect bought some expensive clothes that worth an amount of R27 000,” said Mhlakuvana.

ALSO READ: Six men facing charges of kidnapping and theft denied bail

Police investigators used video footage to identify the suspect who was arrested on Friday as one of the kidnappers.

Cash, clothes and the vehicle were seized for further investigation. 

He will appear at Dordrecht Magistrate’s Court on Monday.    

Suspect arrested for police officer’s murder

Meanwhile, the Hawks’ Serious Organised Investigation team in Pietermaritzburg on Friday arrested a 30-year-old suspect accused of murdering police office Constable Mxolisi Desmond Duma.

Duma died after he was shot while sitting in his friend’s vehicle on Church Street, Pietermaritzburg, on 18 November 2021. 

ALSO READ: WATCH: Police launch manhunt after Pastor Dwayne Gordon killed in Joburg church shooting

The suspects took Duma’s service firearm and fled the scene.

“During an exhaustive investigation, the suspect was identified and an operation was conducted. He was found at Snathing area where he was apprehended,” said KwaZulu-Natal Hawks spokesperson, Captain Bonnie Nxumalo.

The suspect will appear in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday. He is facing charges of murder and armed robbery.

Nxumalo said the investigation to arrest the other suspects and recover the stolen firearm is continuing.

Catch up with the latest news from The Citizen on WhatsApp by following our channel. To join, click here.

ALSO READ: Surge in SA: Organised crime really does pay best