A 20-year-old student who was kidnapped on Saturday night in Gqeberha has been released.
The Directorate for Priority Crimes Investigation (known as the Hawks) confirmed that Qays Mohaned Hersi Mohamoud was released.
Hawks spokesperson in the Eastern Cape Warrant Officer Ndiphiwe Mhlakuvanathe told IOL that details surrounding his release was not known.
Mohamoud was snatched at gunpoint while driving his VW Tiguan at the corners of Aubrey Street and Kobus Road in Parkside.
The incident took place at around 7pm.
At the time, Eastern Cape police spokesperson Captain Sandra van Rensburg said two vehicles had blocked the roadway.
Mohamoud had a passenger in the car who was not taken.
The matter was transferred to the Directorate for Priority Crimes Investigation (known as the Hawks) after a ransom demand was allegedly made. The amount of the ransom demand is not known.
There have been a spate of kidnapping incidents in the Eastern Cape in recent months.
A Chinese national and another woman Alize van der Merwe were kidnapped in September.
Van der Merwe was kidnapped while travelling from East London to a resort in Port St Johns on September 20, 2024.
Three days earlier, on September 17, 2024, a 34-year-old Chinese national was snatched between Elliot and Barkley East.
Both women were released on September 26, 2024 near a police station.
Police said both women were traumatised.
There have been arrests and the matter is before the court.
IOL News