Pretoria – Police on Wednesday said the interventions that have been put together to curb the rampant scourge of kidnappings across the country are yielding positive results, with four foreign nationals arrested for allegedly kidnapping and killing their fellow countryman in Vanderbijlpark, Gauteng.
Rezaul Amin Molla, aged 29, was reported missing at Kwaggafontein in Mpumalanga in December last year.
“The missing person case was later changed to kidnapping when the suspects allegedly demanded ransom from the victim’s family in Bangladesh,” said SAPS spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Robert Netshiunda.
“Investigations led the team to a hospital in Queenstown, Eastern Cape where the suspects were hospitalised. It is reported that they were assaulted by members of the community when they attempted to kidnap another person,” he said.
Netshiunda said Mohammed Asrepur Rahman, aged 27, and 26-year-old Mohammed Sha Alamin have since confessed to kidnapping Molla in Kwaggafontein and subsequently killing him in Bophelong, Vanderbijlpark.
“The other two suspects were arrested in Bophelong, and a vehicle which was allegedly used during the kidnapping, was found at the residence of one of the suspects. Rahman and Alamin have appeared before the Mkobola Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, January 18, and were remanded in custody,” said Netshiunda.
Their case was postponed to January 25 for them to secure a legal representative.
The other two suspects were on Wednesday scheduled to appear before the same court.
Meanwhile, SAPS national commissioner, General Khehla Sitole has applauded the team comprising the Mpumalanga provincial detectives, Gauteng tracking team, KwaMhlanga district local criminal record centre, the national crime intelligence unit and other role players for their efforts in tracing the suspects and “ensuring that the authority of the state is felt in the intensification of the fight against kidnappings”.
IOL