Captives rescued from kidnappers

Maputo, 14 Nov (AIM) – Mozambique’s National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) rescued on Wednesday a Portuguese businessman who had been kidnapped, in central Maputo, on 29 October.

According to SERNIC spokesperson, Hilário Lole, speaking to reporters, the businessman was kidnapped in the Djonasse neighbourhood, in the municipality of Matola-Rio, in the southern province of Maputo.

The Portuguese is Ernesto Amaral Fonseca, a partner in the company Techno Control Ltd, which specialises in the computer and electricity areas.

In the same operation led by SERNIC, a 24 year old Mozambican citizen of Asian origin, the son of a businessman, was rescued from the same house. He was kidnapped on 5 August this year also in central Maputo. His name has not yet been released.

In addition to a vandalized vehicle, in the backyard of the house, where the two citizens were freed, there were two bodies of the perpetrators lying on the ground and a third inside the house. A fourth member of the kidnap gang was lying in the street next to the house.

According to Lole, SERNIC carried out a search and collection operation and concluded that the house had indeed been used as a private prison.

“At around 15.00, when there was no longer any doubt, the agents went inside this house and there was resistance”, he said. In the ensuing shoot-out, all four members of the kidnap gang who were inside the house were killed.

SERNIC, Lole said, is in possession of information that could lead to the perpetrators of the kidnappings, “but what must be done is a coordination effort between various sectors that can help us locate these individuals.”

The two rescued citizens had no physical injuries, but Lole recognized that they needed psychological assistance.

According to the Confederation of Mozambican Business Associations (CTA), in the last 12 years, around 150 businesspeople have been kidnapped in Mozambique, and a hundred have left the country out of fear.

As of last March, the Mozambican police had recorded a total of 185 cases of kidnapping, and at least 288 people suspected of involvement in kidnappings have been arrested in the last 13 years.
(AIM)
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