Cape Town - Police Minister Bheki Cele has lifted the lid on the modus operandi involved in kidnappings, saying there were instances where the crime was staged by the so-called victims or relatives in an attempt to commit insurance fraud.
In some cases, families refused to cooperate with police investigations, while in other cases, families chose to flee the country after realising that officers were about to crack the case.
He told the National Council of Provinces this week about some successes in kidnappings, saying 29 complaints had been received and nine arrests made between April and July 2022.
“I am sure members themselves have seen some successes of late. The only problem is that these incidents will get a very prominent space in the media but when they are resolved nobody makes a big story about them. The latest is the 6-year-old boy, two days after he was kidnapped, police arrested somebody in Gauteng.
“In another case, of Mr Rajah who was kidnapped for 111 days. When the family was on the way to pay a R25m ransom, police broke the case and he was found in Khayelitsha.
“That family did not pay a ransom because of the good work of the police,” he said.
Businessman Ismail Rajah was kidnapped outside his business premises in Parow in March. He was reunited with his family after a “midnight take down operation” to rescue him from his captors at a house in Mandela Park, according to police.
In Kensington, six-year-old Shanawaaz Asghar who was kidnapped on Wednesday last week, was reunited with his family on Thursday.
The incident is understood to have occurred while Shanawaaz was on his way to school.
Police spokesperson Frederick Van Wyk said a person of interest arrested on a separate matter was being investigated to confirm his involvement in the case.
Family spokesperson Dawood Esack said the family was still traumatised and trying to get back to normal.
“The kid has not returned to school yet, because there is quite a lot of apprehension and we have to give him some time to settle down. It’s still a bit traumatic for the family.
“They were very happy when their son returned home. He was in good health, and he is such an innocent young child. He knows something happened to him, but I don’t think he realises the extent of it. This was and still is a shock,” he said.
Esack said police had not yet indicated whether any arrests had been made.
He could not confirm if the family had paid a ransom, as reported.
“Although I have been very close to the family, I have not really asked yet if they have paid a ransom. I believe they need time and space before they can be probed.
“Once they have settled down, then one can probe those questions. That’s if they wish to share,” he said.
Kensington community policing forum (CPF) chairperson Cheslyn Steenberg said a meeting was expected to be held with the community next week.
“The objective of the meeting is to simply give feedback to the community with regards to crime in general. With the secondary objective being to encourage residents to establish their neighbourhood watches, and then discuss as a community how we can increase our CCTV camera footprint.
“The CPF over the last six months discussed a plan to create a central hub of cameras in the community and link individuals to us via a network that will be accessible to law enforcement agencies,” he said.
Cape Times