Child kidnapped in central Maputo – AIM report

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Child kidnapped in central Maputo – AIM report

6:10 CAT | 29 May 2025

Image via Notícias

A 6-year-old child, the grandson of a businessman of Asian origin, was kidnapped on Tuesday afternoon on Mao-Tsé Tung avenue, in central Maputo.

The victim, named Shurain Irshad, is the grandson of Munir Sau, the owner of the Novo Mundo travel agency. He was kidnapped while being taken to an Islamic school by his mother.

An audio about the kidnapping went viral on social media. In this recording a relative of the boy asked his listeners “to pray for the fragile 6-year-old boy.”

READ: Mozambique: Boy kidnapped in Maputo – reports

“A group of individuals arrived at Mao-Tsé Tung Avenue, and they took little Shurain Irshad and put him in a car, after which they fled the scene”, the audio says.

According to the audio, the kidnappers are demanding six million meticais (about 94,000 US dollars, at the current exchange rate) as a ransom in order to free the minor “but the police have set up surveillance squads in the areas leading out of Maputo City with armoured vehicles, where all vehicles are forced to slow down and open their windows.”

The police have not commented on the case. However, this is the first time the criminals have kidnapped a child, since the first case of kidnappings was reported 12 years ago. Since the kidnappings started, about a hundred businesspeople, most of them of Asian origin, have left the country.

According to the Strategic Analysis Report (RAE), published by the Mozambican Financial Intelligence Office (GIFiM), the wave of kidnappings has generated, since 2014, over 33 million dollars in money laundering.

READ: Mozambique: Attorney General proposes freezing bank accounts of kidnap victims – O País

Mozambique: Attorney-General suggests freezing assets of kidnap victims – AIM report