Police Rescue Kidnapped Girl,4, Syndicate Arrested After Demanding Millions In Ransom
On Monday night, a kidnap-for-ransom money drop near Johannesburg’s Eastgate Mall was foiled, resulting in the safe return of a four-year-old girl.
She was physically unharmed, according to national police commissioner Fannie Masemola, who praised the SAPS’ national task team in charge of investigating organised criminal syndicates involved in ransom kidnappings.
The girl was kidnapped last Thursday at a Springs school by a woman posing as her childminder. Her kidnappers then demanded millions of rand in exchange for her safe release.
Around 8 p.m. on Monday, the task team led a team comprised of the Johannesburg Metro Police Department, Gauteng Traffic Police, Netcare 911, and various security companies to a location near the shopping centre.
“As soon as the suspects arrived to collect the ransom money, the team swooped on the four suspects and rescued the little girl.”
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Police seized two unlicensed firearms and two vehicles at the scene.
“The team’s sleepless nights has definitely paid off,” said Masemola. “Well done to the [officers] who have ensured the safe return of the little girl, well and alive. This should definitely serve as a deterrent to others who are involved in such criminality. We are surely closing in on these syndicates, their days are indeed numbered.”
Police urged parents to provide full names and contact information for their children’s next of kin or guardians at school “to ensure strangers do not have easy access to their children.”
