Durban - A 31-year-old woman was kidnapped from the parking area of a shopping centre in the uMhlanga Ridge area on Monday after a man approached her with a gun and demanded cash.
KwaZulu-Natal provincial police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Nqobile Gwala, said Durban North police are investigating charges of kidnapping and theft.
This follows the kidnapping of a 31-year-old woman on March 6, at a shopping centre in uMhlanga, she said.
“The complainant alleged that she was at the parking lot when she was accosted by an armed man who demanded cash from her,” said Gwala.
When the woman advised the man that she did not have any cash on her, Gwala said he instructed her to drive to the nearest bank to withdraw the money.
“At the bank she requested for assistance, the suspect jumped into her vehicle and drove off with her belongings,” she said.
Marshall Security managing director Tyron Powell, said on Monday morning at approximately 10.20am the Marshall Security Emergency Dispatch Centre was alerted to an armed robbery in progress at a well-known bank in the uMhlanga Ridge area
Powell said multiple armed response officers and members of Marshall’s Special Operations Team were immediately dispatched and arrived on the scene a few minutes later.
He said reports from the scene indicated that after the suspect demanded an undisclosed amount of cash, she followed his instructions as he had threatened to kill her if she did not comply.
“The female victim then drove to a nearby bank and the suspect waited in the car for her to return with the cash.
“The victim proceeded to the bank and managed to inform the necessary law enforcement of what had happened. When the suspect released that the female had not returned to the vehicle he then fled with the female’s white Mercedes-Benz,” said Powell.
Powell said details of the hijacked vehicle were then circulated to all Marshall’s armed response officers and members of the security company’s Special Ops Team to be on the lookout.
He said Tracker SA was also contacted and notified to activate the tracking device for the hijacked vehicle.
“After a short track the vehicle was recovered at a well-known shopping mall in the uMhlanga Ridge area by our armed response officers, members of our Special Ops Team, the Tracker SA ground team and the Durban North SAPS Rapid Response Team,” said Powell.
Police confirmed that the vehicle was recovered at a shopping centre parking lot in uMhlanga.