Businessman abducted in Beira, seventh case this year in Mozambique

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Businessman abducted in Beira, seventh case this year in Mozambique

4:50 CAT | 17 May 2020

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Lusa]

A Mozambican businessman was kidnapped early in the evening of Friday (May 15) in the city of Beira, the police announced on Saturday, in what is the seventh abduction case this year in the country.

The victim is identified by ‘Magazine CRV’ as Liyacat Umargi, 67 years old and linked to a well known commercial establishment in the city, the ‘Moreira & Silva’.

The businessman was walking when he was abducted, said Daniel Macuácua, spokesperson for the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM) in Sofala province.

The victim was intercepted by a group of unidentified individuals, transported in two vehicles, Magazine CRV reports, at around 7 p.m., in Ponta Gea, where he lives. The businessman was walking back home after checking on works underway in another house, around 150 meters away from his residence, adds Magazine CRV.

The victim was taken by force into the kidnappers’ vehicle and the case is being dealt with in collaboration with the National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC), added the PRM spokesman, quoted by Lusa.

The Confederation of Economic Associations of Mozambique (CTA) recently called for strong action against that type of crime.

“CTA expresses its strong rejection for the increase in abductions of businessmen,” said Onório Boane, director-general of the Industrial Park of Beluluane and a leader of the confederation at a press conference held a week ago.

““We call on the relevant parties to take energetic actions to stem this scourge, which will chase away potential entrepreneurs and investors,” said Boane.

The kidnapping of Liyacat Umargi on Friday, follows six others which took place in the country since the beginning of this year

On May 5, Yassin Anwar, a hotel and commerce entrepreneur, was kidnapped in the early evening, in the city of Chimoio, Manica province, in the centre of the country.

The crime involved several cars and was consummated after a shootout, a police source told Lusa.

Five days earlier, on April 30, Rizwan Adatia, leader of a large commercial group and a philanthropist, had been abducted during the day while driving his car, in the Bairro do Fomento area, outskirts of Maputo.

The victim’s car was blocked at a traffic light by the kidnappers, who pointed a gun at him and abducted him..

In March, a child under 12 years of age – the son of a businessman at Armazéns África – was abducted by unidentified individuals in Maputo CBD [Baixa].

In February, four unidentified individuals kidnapped a Mozambican businessman, Manish Cantilal, while he was parking in his garage, in Maputo city.

Also in February, another businessman, Ossufo Satar, 44, was kidnapped on his way out of his commercial establishment in the city of Chimoio, Manica province.

Indian businessman Faizel Patel was kidnapped in January in the city of Beira, in the centre of the country.

No further developments were known about any of these cases.

In addition to these six cases in 2020, other kidnappings had already occurred in 2019.

In early April this year, the PRM detained five people suspected of involvement in previous kidnappings in Maputo and Inhambane provinces.

Of the five detainees, three are accused of being involved in the kidnapping of Shelton Lalgy, son of the owner of transport company Lalgy, abducted in November 2019 in the city of Matola, and released in February 2020 after a ransom as paid, the police announced.

Source: Magazine CRV / Lusa