Cape Town – A Mozambican national who was arrested in connection with multiple kidnappings in South Africa and Mozambique has reportedly denied the charges against him.
Esmael Malude Ramos Nangy , 50, was arrested at an estate in Centurion on Saturday and appeared at the Tembisa Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
He was arrested by a multidisciplinary team led by members of the Trilateral Planning Cell(TPC), police said in a statement.
Police said the ransom demands for the kidnapping cases came from Mozambique.
The suspect was in possession of a 9mm licenced firearm, 14 9mm cartridges, five cellphones, multiple bank cards for South African banks as well as multiple SA and Mozambican SIM cards which were seized by the police.
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According to News24, Nangy owned several trucks and operated a business between Mozambique and South Africa where he had permanent residency.
The Mozambican businessman’s lawyer, Calvin Maile alleged that the crimes his client was accused of were actually committed by his mechanic, the report said.
Maile alleged that the mechanic used a business vehicle registered in Nangy’s name to kidnap several people and had since been arrested by police in Mozambique.
He said that his client was in South Africa at the time of the alleged kidnappings and that it appeared that Nangy was being accused of issuing the kidnapping instructions to his employee.
The report said the case was postponed to 16 January and Nangy remained in custody.
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Compiled by Olwethu Mpeshe
