A recent case of abduction could help the Major Crime Investigation Team (MCIT) shed some light on the Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB) hold-up (date) where Rs 51.8 million was taken from the bank?s main vault and customer supervisor Géreard Lagesse was murdered. This is at least what the MCIT expects after Jiawed Ruhomatally, one of the main suspects in the MCB hold-up, was found to be involved in the alleged sequestration of Christophe Antoinette, a taxi driver, in La Chaumière.

Jiawed Ruhomatally took part in the reconstruction of the crime last week where he said he had only tried to put some pressure on Christophe Antoinette who owed him Rs 33,000. He revealed he took the alleged victim to a shed where he beat him and threw him in a hole before helping him to get out with ropes. He denied any confinement as alleged by the taxi driver.

The latter stated to the police that he was confined for three days as from 26th September and seriously beaten. He alleged that he was kidnapped while he was in his car and forced to deliver drugs with his kidnappers ? Jiawed Ruhomatally and five accomplices. As soon as he arrived in the shed, he said he was asked to give them the car as a part payment of his debt. He also alleged that the suspects had placed a rottweiler on top of the hole to make sure he would not get away.

Debt linked with MCB loot

But the police look convinced that this debt might be linked with the MCB loot. Only Rs 3 million have been found so far under a bridge in Réduit after Jiawed Ruhomatally helped the police in their investigations. But the remaining Rs 48.8 million still remains to be found. The police also believe that Christophe Antoinette might know more on the issue than he has revealed so far. The MCIT wonders whether Jiawed Ruhomatally was double-crossed by Christophe Antoinette.

Six suspects have been arrested by the police after the taxi driver?s statement. Moreover, a search in a house at Cité Corps-de-Garde led to the discovery by the MCIT of a number of weapons ? revolvers, guns, sabres and samurai swords. The police are now trying to obtain information on the intended use of these weapons.

If the MCIT succeeds in establishing a connection between those two cases, there is hope that the hold-up ? that occurred more than a year ago ? could finally be solved? And with it, the death of the customer service supervisor, Gérald Lagesse.