A 45-year-old man was put through hell during a hijacking on Wednesday night as he was making his way home from work.
He left his company vehicle at work and drove home in his own car, a Renault Logan. The man stopped at the intersection of Progress Road and Burger Street and lit a cigarette.
When he looked up to take off from the stop street, there was a gun in his face through the open window. A second hijacker jumped into the passenger side of the car. At this point, the hijacker with the gun got into the vehicle and a further two men ran out of the bushes and also jumped in the car. They told him to drive, while one of the criminals sat behind him with a knife at his throat.
They instructed him to head towards Ntombi’s Camp. As he was turning left at the four-way stop in Centenary Road, he tried to pull up the hand brake so that the vehicle would veer out of control and go off the road.
His escape attempt did not work though and the hijacker with the knife responded by cutting him behind his left ear as a warning not to try any more tricks. The man remembers driving along a gravel road close to a railway line, because he could hear the sound of trains going by.
The hijackers made him stop close to some trees and told him to get out of the car. They proceeded to search him and ordered him to take everything out of his pockets. The victim took out his cell-phone and money, and left it on the ground.
Two of the hijackers held him while the other two searched the car for valuables.
While this was happening, the man tried to free himself and get away.
Again his attempts were foiled and all four hijackers started to kick him and force him to the ground.
While on the ground, the hijackers stripped off all his clothes. They then tried to make their getaway in his car.
“I heard the car start and they revved it hard, but it didn’t move,” he recalls.
The hijackers left the vehicle and fled on foot with the car keys and the other items they had stolen.
Once the hijackers were out of sight and earshot, the man got up and screamed for help. Two ladies came to his assistance from across the railway line. They gave him a cell-phone with which to alert his family.
Family members arrived at the scene, and they searched the area for any of the man’s belongings. Nothing was found though, not even the car keys. The man then went to the police station to report the crime. There, he was treated by Sharaj Ambulance Services.
The car was towed away from the scene.
“It could have been much worse if my family had been with me at the time. I could have lost my life, but I’m grateful that it all turned out okay,” said the man after his terrifying ordeal. The victim and his family would like to thank the ladies who helped him at the scene. Police are investigating a case of hijacking.
