The kidnapping of Yaseen Bhiku, a businessman from Lenasia, Gauteng, was caught on CCTV.
Watch: CCTV footage of Yaseen Bhiku kidnapping
According to metadata found in the footage below, the incident took place shortly after 05:00 on Tuesday morning.
In the video clip first shared on social media by renowned crime expert Yusuf Abramjee, Bhiku can be seen standing outside a gated complex with an unidentified person wearing a white thobe.
A silver SUV pulls up and bizarrely parks directly across the road from where they stood. Bhiku and the unidentified male look relaxed and, from the angle of the CCTV footage, not alarmed by the intrusion of the SUV.
The vehicle remains stationery for about 10 second before, in a split second, its doors fly open and three men jump out to ambush the Lenasia businessman and his acquaintance.
The man in the white thobe manages to flee but Bhiku, who was visibly shaken by the sudden attack, was not so lucky. The businessman tried to make a run for it back into the gated complex but he had already been accosted.
The kidnappers drag Bhiku into the SUV and speed off.
Another video of this mornings kidnapping of Yasin Bhiku, an Indian national, in Lenasia JHB. He was kidnapped at about 5am outside his home, after returning from Mosque. #Kidnappings pic.twitter.com/pPdaguTEO4
— Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee) January 11, 2022
A Lenasia businessman was kidnapped at about 5am this morning outside his home in Ext 1 as he was returning home from Mosque. VIDEO #Kidnappings pic.twitter.com/9I57SpAGDp
— Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee) January 11, 2022
The search for Bhiku was ongoing at the time this article was published and, a few hours into his abduction, police have yet to announce a breakthrough.
Bhiku had returned from Mosque at the time he was kidnapped. It’s believed he is in his early 40s.
This is a developing story.
