Seven arrested over kidnapping and murder in Chókwè

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Seven arrested over kidnapping and murder in Chókwè

1:20 CAT | 19 Mar 2025

Photo: Miramar

Seven citizens, including two PRM officers, a driver and a mechanic, have been detained by the Criminal Investigation Service ( SERNIC), over the kidnapping and murder of an Indian citizen in Chókwè district, Gaza province.

The kidnapping took place on March 3 in the city of Chókwè, and the victim was killed days later in Guijá, Chivonguene administrative post. It is alleged that the murder was perpetrated because of the refusal of the victim’s family to pay a two million meticais ransom.

According to SERNIC, the suspects confessed to the crime during the preparatory investigation, but would not do so in front of the press.

Sernic spokesperson Zaqueu Mucambe says there is evidence that the individuals in question were involved in committing the crimes. Sernic had located the house that was used as a prison, and the place where the deceased’s body was supposedly deposited, in addition to recovering two firearms.

“The neutralization of these individuals was thanks to an operational cooperation between SERNIC and other institutions that resulted in the identification of one of those involved. Through him, the others were identified. The first four detainees are already in preventive detention with their situation legalized in the Xai-Xai Provincial Penitentiary,” Mucambe announced.

Regarding the involvement of the police officers, Mucambe said that procedures to ascertain the veracity of the facts were still underway.

The kidnapping, recorded by a surveillance system in a video that went viral, occurred on March 3, when the victim was leaving his business establishment. Investigations led to the discovery of the businessman’s body buried in a Guijá neighbourhood.

Miramar has learned that the kidnappers demanded a ransom of two million meticais, an amount that the victim’s family was unable to raise, and as a result, the criminals killed the businessman.

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Meanwhile, there are suspicions that one of the detainees may have been party to the armed theft of a motorbike in Vila da Macia, Bilene district, in February of this year, which was later recovered in Machaze, Manica province.

Source: Notícias / Miramar