Johannesburg - Police have confirmed that a reservist is among eight men arrested in a horror kidnapping of three women in Cresta earlier this week.
According to Gauteng police spokesperson Captain Kay Makhubele, it is believed the women were kidnapped by a group of men after allegedly swindling them out of money.
“It’s alleged that they were kidnapped because they were part of a money scam. The women allegedly go around to different malls making deals with people.
“The men followed the women from a shopping centre and later kidnapped them. They were forced into a vehicle and taken to an abandoned house in Cresta,” Makhubele explained.
The three women, originally from Cleveland in Pretoria, were tied up, threatened and tortured. “The men poured petrol on their bodies and threatened to hang them with ropes.
“The men kept demanding money from them. The women were also found with burn marks,” he said.
Gauteng police were given a tip-off which they followed up on, and on Tuesday evening the vehicle used to kidnap them was spotted. “Police (stopped) the vehicle where a man inside already had a gun in his hand. He was arrested and he led us to the house where the women were being held.”
When police arrived, Makhubele said, the women “started screaming the most terrible screams” after they heard the police sirens.
“There were two women and several men in the house at the time, we rescued the women and arrested the men.
“The third woman was taken out by the police reservist and forced to get money, we waited for them to return and arrested him as well,” he said.
Makhubele said a total of eight men were arrested as well as several unlicensed firearms.
The men have been charged with kidnapping, assault and possession of unlicensed firearms and are expected to appear in the Roodepoort Magistrate’s Court soon.
Makhubele added that police were looking into allegations that the women were involved in money scams.
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The Star