Businessman rescued and reunited with family after kidnapping ordeal

A Cape Town businessman who was kidnapped in March has been rescued from his captors in a midnight takedown operation.

Ismail Rajah, 69, was kidnapped outside his business premises in Parow. Police rescued him from a house in Khayelitsha this week.

“Following his kidnapping, a ransom demand was made to his family. It is reported that the family were already en route to Dubai to expedite the ransom payment when the SA police national anti-kidnapping task team was roped in to investigate,” police spokesperson Col Athlenda Mathe said on Thursday.

She said the team immediately mobilised the Special Task Force, Organised Crime Investigators, and Crime Scene Experts and collaborated with private security.

“Just after midnight on Wednesday, the team pounced on an identified address and rescued the victim,” said Mathe.

Four men, two Mozambican nationals and two South Africans between the ages of 30 and 38, were arrested.

Police confiscated cellphones and various types of equipment on suspicion they were used by the suspects during the commission of the crime.

“All four [suspects] are expected to appear before the Parow magistrate's court on Thursday.”

Rajah has been safely reunited with his family, safe and unharmed.

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