/ 1 January 2002

Five arrested for kidnapping Jo’burg taximen

Five men were arrested after they kidnapped and robbed four taxi drivers in Mondeor, Johannesburg on Friday, police reported.

Superintendent Chris Wilken said the five men confronted a 41-year-old taxi driver and three others at the Wanderers Street taxi rank shortly after 7am.

The drivers were forced into the 41-year-old’s car and driven off, after which they were robbed of their cellphones and R770.

The police were tipped-off and intercepted the car on the N12 freeway near the Old Potchefstroom turn off.

”Members of the flying squad, dog unit Laanglaagte and members of the Mondeor police forced the vehicle off the road and arrested the five suspects and recovered six firearms.”

The 41-year-old taxi driver’s firearm, the cellphones and the cash were recovered.

The attackers, aged between 35 and 40, were from KwaZulu-Natal, Wilken said. – Sapa