A Kidnapping and Hijacking reported to Reaction Unit South Africa (RUSA) earlier today was confirmed to be fabricated.
RUSA Operations Center received a call from a man reporting a hijacking that occurred on Todd Street in the Verulam CBD – KZN. According to the caller, he was a passenger in the vehicle when four unknown men got into the car and sped off with the driver. He further informed that he managed to flee from the vehicle.
The caller then left the scene and proceeded to his residence and reported the incident to his brother.
Fifteen Reaction Officers were dispatched to search for the vehicle and the victim while the RUSA R44 Helicopter was being pre-flighted for takeoff. Officers interviewed car guards along Todd Street who denied having knowledge of the incident. RUSA Members also viewed CCTV from business which showed the owner of the vehicle proceeding out of the Verulam CBD and not under duress.
Reaction Officers tracked the caller to Inca Drive in Everest Heights – KZN. On arrival at his residence, he was discovered heavily under the influence of alcohol. He thereafter changed his version of events stating that the driver of the vehicle left him stranded at a butchery.
The RUSA Operations Centre thereafter received multiple calls from the public who viewed a hijacking/kidnapping circulation on this Facebook page pertaining to this matter. The callers reported seeing the missing man at a property on the corner of Kissoon Road and the R102 in Ottawa – KZN.
Reaction Officers confirmed that the driver was safe and had not been hijacked or kidnapped. He is appearing in court tomorrow on a criminal case.
Further information on the criminal case was not available at the time of this update.