Kidnap Victim Left In Car With Bomb Belt – UK
Police are hunting a kidnap gang who tied up and apparently tortured an Asian man before dumping him in a car in a busy city centre, surrounded by a belt of canisters which they claimed were a bomb.
A huge alert in Birmingham disrupted one of the country’s busiest railway stations and led to the evacuation of factories and workshops while army explosives experts checked out the scene.
A police helicopter hovered overhead as officers sealed off the area, closing an adventure park and offering 15 residents and workers temporary refuge in a council leisure centre.
The restrictions were eased after the man, who had been reported to be foaming at the mouth by a witness before the 500-metre cordon was imposed, was taken to hospital with a broken leg and shock.
Speaking at the scene in Saltley, the head of the inquiry, Chief Superintendent Tom Coughlan, said the victim had told officers that he was forced into the car before being told about the bomb. He said: “This incident has now become a criminal investigation. We are seeking to establish the actual nature of the device that was placed in the car.”
The canisters, the size of beer cans, were designed to hold camping gas. They have been taken for examination by the army team. Coughlan said they would be examined for any trace of explosives, but the soldiers had not had to carry out any defusing or controlled explosions.
