Maputo, 26 Nov (AIM) – Unidentified criminals on Monday morning kidnapped yet another businessman of Asian origin in the southern Mozambican city of Matola.
The 39-year-old businessman, a Pakistani citizen named Nurali Gulamo, is linked to the agricultural multinational OLAM Agri and he is also the owner of a candy factory (Fábrica de Doces Sweetos.)
About two weeks ago, the National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) rescued a Portuguese businessman, named Ernesto Amaral Fonseca, who had been kidnapped, in central Maputo, on 29 October. Fonseca is a partner in the company Techno Control Ltd, which specializes 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 after being kidnapped on 5 August this year also in central Maputo.
According to Carmina Leite, Police spokesperson in Maputo province, the criminals who kidnapped Gulamo are still at large.
“The criminals, armed with firearms and travelling in a grey Toyota Prado, forced the businessman to get out of his car and get into the one they were driving. When he was kidnapped, he was with his driver and was leaving his home towards his workplace”, she said.
She said that the criminals fired two shots into the air to intimidate the businessman.
“This is the first kidnapping in Matola city this year. In coordination with SERNIC, we are already on the ground in order to shed light on the crime as soon as possible, which boils down to detaining the perpetrators, as well as rescuing the victim”, she said.
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.
(AIM)
AC/Ad/pf (305)
