Cop task team smashes hitchhiker kidnap ring

ransom of R30 000 was demanded to free her.

“The police were tipped off about the case on Wednesday and upon contacting the family the case was confirmed. They said they were being called by the kidnappers and when we the police met with the family the kidnappers were indeed calling them. The men told the family that the girl had been kidnapped and that R30 000 was demanded for her release. The men did not mention their location and because this was a serious case we had to call the taskforce from Durban for operational purposes,” a police officer who was involved in the operation told the Dispatch.

The police traced the men from Ngqamakhwe, Tsomo, Cofimvaba and Queenstown as they changed location.

The task force arrived in Cofimvaba at 6am on Wednesday and a massive search operation was launched. The victim and the three men were found at a garage in Queenstown where they had run out of petrol.

“Luckily the girl was found unharmed. The criminals who are involved in this serious and growing crime seem not to be interested in harming the victims in any way but they are interested in money,” the police officer said.

This was the third case reported to the police since February. The other two happened in Cofimvaba and Butterworth involving a 12year-old girl and 41-year-old woman who were freed from their kidnappers after payments of R30 000 and R20 000 respectively had been made.

Although the suspects reportedly confessed to this case, it was not clear if they were linked to the other two cases.

The men, aged between 28 and 36, are from Mqanduli and have been held at the Cambridge police station in East London.

Hawks national spokesman Captain Paul Ramaloko confirmed the arrests yesterday and said “further investigations are under way and we expect more arrests to be made”.

Taxi associations in East London have once again urged commuters to stop hitchhiking, saying it is not safe.

“We have been preaching for a stop to hitchhiking because it is dangerous but people tell us it is their money and what they do is not our business.

“At taxi ranks these things don’t happen.

“We can’t control what happens at hiking spots because anyone can use that operation,” Mdantsane East London and District Association spokesman Welile Blayi said.

The men remain in custody and are expected to appear in the East London Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday. — mamelag@dispatch.