Durban - The brother of a foreign businessman thought to have been kidnapped says he is having sleepless nights worrying about him.
Lockman Hossain said at the weekend that he had no idea why his brother, Solaiman Rahaman, had been kidnapped. “He did not have enemies and was well liked,” Hossain said.
Rahaman, from Bangladesh, was on his way to his home in Pietermaritzburg from Raisethorpe last Monday when he was flagged down by a man on the side of the road.
Police spokeswoman Joey Jeevan said that, according to witnesses, Rahaman had been taken out of his bakkie and forced into a gold Toyota RunX by three men.
He has not been seen since.
Hossain said that Rahaman co-owned a supermarket in Bombay Road. He usually closed about 9pm and reached home 15 minutes later.
“On Monday night, I phoned him because he did not come home. The phone just rang. When I tried again, it was switched off,” he said.
Out of concern that something had happened to him at the shop, he and his friend took a taxi to find him. On the way they found his brother’s bakkie on the side of the road.
He said he had not told his parents in Bangladesh of the kidnapping because they were old and would not be able to cope with the news.
Jeevan urged anyone with information on the matter to contact Sergeant Sheldon Norman, of the Mountain Rise police station, at 033 387 9528 or 084 633 7610, or to phone Crime Stop at 08600 10111.
The Mercury