Staff Reporter
A Free State-based businessman who was reported missing at the beginning of this month has been found alive.
Shaiful Islam, 43, was reported missing on August 2 but his bakkie was found abandoned in the parking area just outside Park Road Police Station in Bloemfontein.
Initial investigations, according to the police, indicated that Islam, a foreign national, had been kidnapped as the family started receiving anonymous calls demanding a ransom for his release.
“The police established a multi-disciplinary team with various expertise and followed some leads,” provincial police spokesperson Sam Makhele said in a statement on Saturday.
“The amounts demanded varied and it was clear that more than one suspect was involved,” he added.
Following some leads, the police pounced on their first suspect, a 50-year-old foreign national in Hilton, Bloemfontein, on Friday night.
His arrest, said Makhele, led to the arrest of two other suspects aged 36 and 39 years old.
The two are also foreign nationals.
The police were then led to Springfontein, a small town about 145km south-west of Bloemfontein, where the businessman was being held in captivity.
They found Islam guarded by two men aged 24 and 29 who are both South African nationals.
The pair was immediately arrested and a case of kidnapping and robbery was registered at Park Road Police Station.
“Apparently, during the kidnapping, the victim was also robbed of an undisclosed amount of cash that he had collected after delivering stock in Dealesville,” the police spokesperson said.
Investigations into the matter are continuing and all five suspects are expected to appear in court soon.