A Jewish businessman who was abducted outside the Brodsky synagogue in Kyiv and held a week for ransom, was rescued by Ukraine Police, the United Jewish Community of Ukraine announced Tuesday on the organization’s website.
The victim, whose name was not released, was kidnapped on August 21 by a gang of criminals allegedly led by his former business partner, according to Kyiv Chief of Police Andriy Krishchenko, who discussed the details of the case with the Obozrevatel website in an interview.
An acquaintance who was among the group of kidnappers lured him into a car outside his synagogue, according to Kirshchenko. The gang then drove off to a secluded cabin, according to police.
Initially he was kept in another building on the second floor, but he tried to escape, jumping from a height of about 15 feet and breaking both of his legs in the process. One of the kidnappers applied a plaster cast to his legs but it was not much help because the legs were in very serious condition, police said.
After that, the victim was taken to the Fastovsky district of Kyiv, to one of the abandoned houses in the farmsteads in the forest behind the village.
“One of the kidnappers had a grandmother who lived in that forest; he knew those places well. It was convenient; the place was silent, one where you would not attract the attention of others,” Krishchenko told Obozrevatel.
The man was held in the basement and was forced to eat and relieve himself in the same room. His captors beat him and when he tried to escape, they shot him, Kirshchenko said.
Police were able to track down the businessman and rescue him after his wife reported him missing the next morning.
The police have detained the person who ordered the kidnapping and six others as well. “The customer received neither money, nor valuables, nor assets from the businessman,” Kirshchenko said, according to the report. Most of the details are still under a gag order since the investigation is still active.