Maputo — The South African police on Wednesday shot dead a Mozambican, identified only by the nickname “Dollarman’, who was allegedly a key figure in kidnapping gangs, wanted in both South Africa and Mozambique.
According to police sources cited by the South African media, the shooting was the culmination of an operation in which the police rescued an Indian businessman from the kidnappers. The victim (whose name was not released) was abducted on 23 July from his business premises in the town of Benoni.
The businessman was rescued following a shoot-out in the Johannesburg suburb of Kempton Park in which “Dollarman’ was fatally wounded. He later died of his injuries.
The national spokesperson for the South African police (SAPS), Brig. Athlenda Mathe, described Dollarman as “a major figure in regional kidnapping syndicates’.
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“The suspect is a wanted kidnapping kingpin in both South Africa and Mozambique’, he said. In Mozambique, he was wanted in connection with several kidnapping for ransom cases, while in South Africa he was also linked to “at least five kidnapping-for-ransom cases as well as other crimes, including housebreaking, carjacking, and possession of unlicensed firearms.”
Mathe said that “From July 2021 to date, the SAPS anti-kidnapping task team has arrested more than 337 suspects and seized over 146 illegal firearms at crime scenes linked to these syndicates.’
He added that the latest operation highlights the determination of police to disrupt organised crime networks operating across borders. “This case shows that no criminal, regardless of their reputation, is beyond the reach of law enforcement’, Mathe declared.
The Mozambican authorities have not yet commented on the case.