Local member of SA kidnapping gang arrested in Dhaka

Detectives yesterday arrested a local member of a South African gang in the capital.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) came to know about the gang when it abducted a Bangladeshi expatriate on January 2 and contacted his family for ransom.

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After abducting Shahidullah, 30, from Sasolburg in South Africa, the gang contacted his mother and demanded Tk 25 lakh, to be collected by their Bangladeshi associate Akhter Hossain, said Mirza Abdullahel Baqui, a special superintendent of CID.

The family, after negotiations, agreed to pay Tk 5 lakh.

Officials aware of this, kept watch over the family members and were able to arrest Akhter, minutes after he took the money from beside the Jatrabari highway, added Baqui.

In primary interrogation, Akhter admitted about the South African gang and where they were keeping Shahidullah.

"We've imparted the information to the South African police and hope they would be able to rescue Shahidullah and bust the gang in no time," he said.