Welkom - A 70-year-old Welkom pensioner is in the intensive care unit of a local hospital after he was abducted from his home in Welkom by two men and held prisoner for several days during which he was severely assaulted and robbed, Free State police said on Saturday.
On July 15, the man was asleep in his house in De Wet Street, Reitzpark in Welkom when two unknown balaclava-clad men forced entry into his house at about 1am, Captain Stephen Thakeng said.
They forced the man out of his house and drove off with him in his bronze Toyota Corolla with registration number HFF 384 FS. A flat screen television set was also taken.
"The victim was transported to a secluded area and locked inside a shack house. The suspects were assaulting him while demanding his bank card pin number to withdraw an undisclosed amount of cash."
He was held inside the shack until July 18 when he was released. A case of car-jacking and kidnapping had been registered for further investigation. The suspects were still at large and the pensioner's car was also still missing, Thakeng said.
Should anyone have any information that may assist police to arrest the suspects, they should contact Detective Captain Pieter du Plessis of the Welkom vehicle crime investigation unit on 079-884-2179.