Employees of adjacent companies recounted an incident outside a scrap metal yard on Hart Street in Gqeberha as terrifying cries, followed by the loud sound of gunfire and the screeching sound of tires as a car drove away.
A man was killed in the incident, and his businessman father was taken. On Tuesday, soon after 11:00 a.m., two balaclava-clad individuals in two Toyota Corollas stopped outside the gate of Inders Scrap Metal, forcing the owner into one of the cars before fleeing the scene.
Bir-Devinder Singh, 27, desperately tried to halt his father’s kidnapping, clinging to him and yanking his arm to get him back into the yard, but he was shot in the process by one of the perpetrators.
[ Passenger Arrested With Explosives On Bus From Zimbabwe To Johannesburg ]
He died minutes later at the scene. The group departed with his father, Inder Singh, who remained unaccounted for on Friday afternoon.
According to informed sources, there was no ransom demand, and the circumstances of the incident remained unknown. The Hawks are still looking for a reason.
Captain Yolisa Mgolodela, a Hawks spokesperson, confirmed the event but stated that the docket had only recently been delivered to them [by SAPS] and that there had been no further developments.
“The incident report received so far contains the details forwarded [to the media],” she said on Friday.
Eyewitnesses, who spoke under condition of anonymity, said the kidnapped victim’s screams were deafening. “It was difficult to hear him scream like that when they took him. He fought back and did not go easily,” the man said.
According to the witness, he saw approximately eight individuals at the scene. The father was standing outside the gate of his premises when they grabbed him. “The son followed them and pulled on his father’s arm and struggled to get him out of their grip.
“One guy simply turned around and shot him in the abdomen. He used a rifle,” the witness claimed.
“He was still moving when we got to him, but you could see that he was not going to make it,” another witness said. “It was the weirdest thing. We saw the bullet wound.
“It was in the lower part of the abdomen, but there was no sight of blood at all. The paramedics tried for more than half an hour to resuscitate him.”
When News24 visited the business on Friday, the large gate was closed, and all the doors were shut. A man came from an office inside and peeped through an opening in the gate.
He said the business was closed. “I am new here. I don’t know much, but they killed my relative and we are now closed. We might open again next week,” he said.
