Mozambican lawyers see police close to finding the masterminds behind kidnappings

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Mozambican lawyers see police close to finding the masterminds behind kidnappings

4:28 CAT | 21 May 2020

One of the entrepreneurs rescued yesterday was being held hostage in this house in Mulotane, Boane district, Maputo province

Lawyers Arlindo Guilamba and Rodrigo Rocha believe that the Mozambican police are in possession of clues that could lead to the kidnapping masterminds.

Their reaction comes immediately after the rescue by the National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) this Wednesday, May 20, of businessmen Ridwan Adatia and Manish Cantilal from two different locations in Maputo province.

Rocha says “due to the ‘green-light’ way in which they arrived at the locations, there is a great possibility of reaching the real ringleaders and the real people who are profiting from, at least, these two abductions”.

For Guilamba, “the perfect job done by the police in relation to the rescue” may bolster understanding of this type of crime.

“We are left with doubts about how this web is constituted. It seems to us that there is a lot of work [to be done] here to understand the [criminal] web and how to dismantle it, so that it doesn’t happen again,” Guilamba said.

Ridwan Adatia, a citizen of Indian origin, was abducted three weeks ago, while Mozambican Manish Cantilal had been in the hands of his kidnappers for more than three months.

In both cases, SERNIC revealed, the kidnappers had demanded ransoms of thousands of dollars.

“A family source revealed that the week after the kidnapping [of Rizwan Adiatia], there was a ransom demand of five million dollars,” SERNIC director in Maputo province, Benjamina Chaves, revealed.

Faced with family resistance, Chaves said, the kidnappers lowered the ransom amount “and by yesterday (19), they were asking for US$300,000, because they wanted to get rid of their victim”.

Torture

During ransom negotiation, both victims were subject to torture by the kidnappers, who would spell out the names of alleged ringleaders.

“They say that this or that guy is involved (in the kidnapping). I can’t say it out loud here, but they really say (…). At the end of the day, they end up harming the government, which has nothing to do with it,” said Cantilal.

In Wednesday’s operation, the police detained at least three individuals – two men and one woman – suspected of being part of the kidnapping network.

Chaves said that citizens on the run in South Africa are involved in the crimes. “We continue to interact with our South African counterparts in order to locate the people we are looking for,” she said.

Abduction of entrepreneurs or their relatives has been a recurrent problem in Mozambique. At least five cases have been registered in Maputo, Sofala and Manica provinces this year.

Source: Voa Portugues