The 28-year-old man who was kidnapped in The Hague in November was able to escape because his guard fell asleep. Lakhsan was being held at the time in a remote house in a forest area east of Antwerp, according to Algemeen Dagblad. Tomorrow there will be a preliminary hearing in court in the case of the suspects, who held the victim for ten days.
Police control
On November 26, Lakshan was driving away from his house when a text lit up in the car in front of him: ‘Stop: follow police’. At first it looked like a wounded police check, but the men take him away. The group of “police officers” had more or less disguised themselves and were equipped with a firearm, handcuffs, a flashlight, and a walkie-talkie. Lakshan also saw a police logo.
Barendrecht
The fake police officers hold him in a warehouse in Barendrecht and make video images with a telephone that they send to his family. The police have several indications that the kidnappers want to get back a stolen shipment of cocaine weighing 1,000 kilos.
Lakshan told the police that he was seriously threatened there. He was hit with guns to his head, among other things. He has no knowledge of drug trafficking, but knows someone from his youth who may have been involved in bringing in the shipment of cocaine from the port of Antwerp. He told police that he was not asked about a possible reason for the kidnapping
Garden shed
A dilapidated wooden garden shed in the woods in Belgium is his next residence. Lakshan is wearing professional handcuffs and there are also tie wraps around his wrists and ankles. He has to relieve himself in a toilet that cannot be flushed because there is no running water. He decides to eat as little as possible.
Lighter
Lakshan managed to escape from his captors after ten days. His guard had fallen deeply asleep and was snoring. At that point he was able to burn through the zip ties with a lighter. He then managed to get the key to the handcuffs.
Because his eyesight is very poor, he had kept his contact lenses in all this time. Otherwise he would never have been able to get away easily.
Once outside, he took off running. The house turned out to be far away from civilization. On an asphalt road he managed to get help from a motorist in the middle of the night who alerted the police.
Nine suspects
The Dutch police were already on the trail of the perpetrators a few days after the kidnapping. The warehouse in Barendrecht was smashed open with a forklift truck. However, Lakshan had already been taken to Belgium.
Nine suspects have now been brought before the Hague court.
