Durban -
An Overport businessman who went missing on Friday was found traumatised and in shock on Monday afternoon after allegedly being hijacked and held hostage in Umlazi for three days.
Vivian Pillay, the owner of Oriental Stage Productions in Asherville, went missing after withdrawing money from the bank at 11.15am.
His family say that the bank’s camera footage showed the 35-year-old looking natural and unsuspicious, and without signs of being followed. He withdrew about R6 000 for staff wages before a busy weekend of function decorating.
But the moments captured by the camera after he left the bank were the last in which he was seen. His red Isuzu double cab bakkie was also missing.
On Monday, Pillay was found wandering near Musgrave Centre. His father, Steve, said that he was recognised by neighbours who “thought they had seen a ghost”.
He was unable to say what condition Pillay was in, other than that his face was swollen. He said his son told him that he had been kicked out of a moving van in Musgrave.
Pillay’s wife, Shalini, said
she last saw him at about 7am on Friday when he left for work, but when she phoned him at noon, he did not answer.
“I thought he was in a meeting with clients, so I sent him a few BBMs. They were all delivered but not read,” she said.
Police spokesman Thulani Zwane confirmed that Pillay had been found but could not say what had happened to him until police had questioned him.
The Mercury