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Cap Town - A simple complaint from a resident in gang hotspot Manenberg led to metro police officers unravelling a kidnapping case and finding the victim beaten and shackled in a Rylands East home.
The victim, a Delft shop owner who is originally from Bangladesh, is thought to have been held in the house with his leg chained to a fixed object for two days.
Details about the sensational crime surfaced this week. Acting metro police chief Annalene Marais said officers were patrolling in Manenberg when a resident complained to them that a friend had been kidnapped.
Officers rushed to the address where the friend was being held.
“When they got to the location the victim was severely beaten; his leg was chained with a padlock,” Marais said.
A South African, a Pakistani and a Bangladeshi were arrested. A replica firearm was also confiscated. It later emerged the shopkeeper had been kidnapped near Surrey Estate last Friday. The suspects allegedly demanded an R800 000 ransom in exchange for the shopkeeper’s release.
But Marais said it was not clear from whom they had demanded the money. It was also not clear why the man had been kidnapped.
The traumatised shopkeeper was hospitalised after being rescued. This week the provincial police struggled to find a record of the case. This was because of the various areas involved in the incident, which meant it could have been reported at one of several police stations.
caryn.dolley@inl.co.za
Weekend Argus