Damien Zondo
Salahuddin Abdul Halim was abducted from his shop in Fordsburg, Johannesburg, on 26 July and has been held hostage ever since, with the kidnappers demanding a ransom of up to R15 million to release him.
For months prior to his abduction, the Bangladesh national had been routinely harassed and robbed by a gang of criminals targeting his crew of distributors. He lost millions of rands in the process.
On the day of the kidnapping, Salahuddin was harassed and shoved into the car of the kidnappers by a heavily armed man soon after he had closed his shop.
The build-up to the 26 July kidnapping started months back when his crew of distributors of stock to shops were targeted and robbed more than 10 times. He opened several criminal cases with the police in different police stations including Tembisa Rabasotho, Diepsloot, Johannesburg Central, and others.
Besides being targeted and robbed at gunpoint while distributing stock to his clients, the Bangladesh national received a note from an unknown person in his post box detailing how they would one day kidnap him, demand a ransom, and then kill him.
The victim’s business partner who also spoke on behalf of Salahuddin’s family told Scrolla.Africa that on 26 July a group of men arrived at Salahuddin’s shop just after 6pm in Fordsburg. “They were heavily armed driving in three cars. They forced him into their car at gunpoint.” They drove off with him.
Dramatically, the kidnappers returned, not with Salahuddin, but this time they were looking for his business partner who told Scrolla.Africa that they wanted to kidnap him too.
The visibly frightened man who kept checking his surroundings while speaking to our team said the kidnappers of his business partner (Salahuddin) wanted him too. “I am not safe as we speak. I don’t trust anyone whom I have not met before and I live a life of fear,” he said.
He said the kidnappers first demanded a whopping R15 million for the release of Salahuddin. “I simply don’t have that money and his family doesn’t know what to do.”
He said the family raised about R300 000 which has been rejected by the kidnappers who have recently been speaking a different language demanding a lower figure of about R5 million. “To kidnappers, it seems like R5 million is a lower figure but it’s the money that we don’t have and we cannot find,” he said.
He said every time they communicated with the kidnappers, they would demand a different figure. They are not consistent. “The lowest amount they asked us to give was R3.5 million.” He said the family has opened a kidnapping case with the police who are investigating.
The man said every day the family prays for the safe return of their loved one. “The family is helpless at the moment.
“Police tell us that this is not the first case that they are busy with. They said there have been more cases of kidnapping piling up in their offices,” he said.
