Saltley 'car bomb' kidnap was not gang related
Detectives investigating the kidnap of a man who was tied up in an abandoned car and told he was connected to a bomb said today that the incident was not gang-related.
The victim, an Asian man in his mid-30s, was discovered in a white Nissan Micra on a road in an industrial area of Birmingham at 10.20am on Sunday.
His hands were bound together and he was surrounded by gas canisters and "too frightened to move", police said.
West Midlands Police said the man had been bundled into a blue car in the Moseley area of Birmingham in the early hours of Sunday by a group of men who drove him to an unknown location where he was threatened and assaulted.
He was later transferred to the Nissan Micra and abandoned in Landor Street, Saltley, where he was discovered by a passing lorry driver.
Detective Inspector Julian Grant said: "Inquiries are moving forward at some speed, but at this stage we do not believe the victim was a member of any gang or that the crime is gang- related."
The victim, who was positioned in the front of the car with about eight gas canisters around his abdomen, was removed following a seven-hour operation involving the emergency services, an Army bomb disposal team and trained negotiators.
A 500m cordon was erected and nearby factories and local homes were evacuated.
