Africa-Press – Mozambique. Mozambican police detained two men in flagrante on Thursday as they were planning to kidnap a businessman in the city of Maputo, southern Mozambique, and obtained a list of people they were going to kidnap, a source from the corporation announced on Monday.
The arrest took place at around 12:00 in downtown Maputo, the Mozambican capital, when a group of six people were about to kidnap a Mozambican businessman of Indian origin, said Hilário Lole, spokesperson for the National Criminal Investigation Service ( SERNIC) in the city of Maputo.
Of the group, four people are of Mozambican nationality and two are South African, said SERNIC.
“Of these six, it was possible to neutralize, on the spot, two individuals who are, by the way, father and son, one aged 59 and the other aged 28”, said Hilário Lole, adding that one of the alleged kidnappers was on parole, after being sentenced to 17 years in prison, in 2012, for committing the same type of crime
Two vehicles were also seized from the two men and “images of several victims of kidnappings – that would take place after the execution” of the abduction thwarted by the police on Thursday – were obtained.
“As part of his arrest, it was possible to collect various information about kidnappings that occurred in the past, as well as kidnappings to be carried out”, said the spokesperson, noting that the information obtained will help “clarify the various cases of kidnappings that have already occurred,” as well as preventing the “future cases” contained on the list found in possession of the detainees-
According to SERNIC’s spokesperson, the police are developing actions to ensure the protection of the businessman who escaped the kidnapping and his family
“We want to believe that with this work it will be possible to have a certain calm these days regarding the practice of kidnapping crimes,” judging by ” the work being carried out by SERNIC in coordination with the various forces on the ground and with the South
The Mozambican police said, on Thursday, that businessman Junaide Lalgy was the target of a chase by unknown people, which took place on the 8th, in the city of Matola, Maputo province, and managed to escape to his company.
After the incident, Lalgy filed a complaint at the 1st Police Station of the Republic of Mozambique, in the city of Matola, according to a police note.
Thirteen days ago, a 26-year-old Portuguese-Mozambican woman was kidnapped by three armed men in Maputo, as she was leaving her home.
In contact with Lusa on the 8th, SERNIC’s spokesperson in the city of Maputo said that “work is still being carried out” to clarify the case, saying that it was “still premature” to provide any information about the young woman’s abduction.
Contacted by Lusa, the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was monitoring the case with the Mozambican authorities.
On the same day, the director of SERNIC, Nelson Rego, reiterated that the institution is “determined” to create a unit specialized in combating kidnappings, warning of the need to “purify” the police ranks.
Some Mozambican cities, mainly the provincial capitals, have been affected again since 2020 by a wave of kidnappings, mainly targeting businesspeople or their families.
The Prime Minister of Mozambique, Adriano Maleiane, announced in parliament last May that the agents who will work in a special unit to combat kidnappings that affect the country’s main cities have already been selected.
“The first phase, already completed”, of the creation of the unit to combat kidnappings, “consisted of the selection of agents” and the next stage will be the specialization of the personnel and will have the support of cooperation partners, he specified.
According to a report presented by the head of the Mozambican Government at the time, since 2021, 28 cases of kidnapping have been registered in Mozambique, of which, “15 have been fully clarified”.
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