Last of the Mariannhill gang? Six kidnapped men rescued from Durban house

Six men who were kidnapped in Pietermaritzburg last Friday, 29 March, were rescued in Durban by a team of various law enforcement and security agencies in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Two men suspected of being involved in the kidnapping were also arrested.

Suspects possibly linked to Mariannhill gang

eNCA reports that the pair may be linked to the Mariannhill gang of which nine members were shot dead by police at Desai on Wednesday, 3 April.

Read: KZN shootout: Police ‘ambushed’ after knocking at wrong house

Joint operation

The kidnapping victims were rescued by a team consisting of private security companies and several elite crime fighting units of the South African Police Service (Saps), according to The Witness.

Magma Security and Investigations boss Shaheen Suleiman told the publication that the victims, all South Africans, had since been reunited with their families.

He said they were found in a house in Newlands West.

The operation started at around midnight on Saturday. The two suspects were arrested first, after which the rescue operation followed.

“The victims have been reunited with their families. This was a team effort after the families reported their members missing to the police and the investigation took off,” Suleiman was quoted as saying.

ALSO READ: Soweto police officers in the dock for kidnapping, extortion

Suspects ‘tortured’ victims, extorted R100k

The team involved in the take-down includes the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations Directorate’s provincial tracking team, the anti-gang unit, police kidnapping team, as well as the Mayville crime prevention unit.

According to eNCA, the victims were tortured and assaulted, and the kidnappers had already extorted around R100 000 from the men over the past week.

One of the suspects was found driving a VW Polo, stolen from the victims.

Now read: Bogus taxi patrol duo arrested on N4 highway for extortion