A NEWTOWN man was arrested at the Dutch border and is one of two men charged over an alleged double kidnapping in Lower Earley last year.
Erlind Demiraj, 31, and of Orts Road, was charged in his absence on September 28, with one count each of conspiring to kidnap and conspiring to blackmail.
Thames Valley Police said that, following an international manhunt led by the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit in conjunction with National Crime Agency and international law enforcement partners, Demiraj was arrested by Dutch authorities attempting to cross from Belgium into the Netherlands on Tuesday, November 8.
Demiraj was further arrested when he arrived in the UK on Thursday, November 17, after his extradition, and was then remanded in custody at Reading Magistrates’ Court on Friday, November 18.
Gentjan Kica, 33, of Glenrosa Road, Reading, was charged by postal requisition on Thursday, October 6, with one count each of conspiring to kidnap and conspiring to blackmail.
Kica was released on conditional bail at Reading Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, November 16.
The pair are both due to appear at Reading Crown Court on Tuesday, December 6.
The charges are in connection with an incident in Maiden Place, Lower Earley, at around 6.30pm on Wednesday, December 8, last year, where two men were kidnapped, and later located in Northampton five days later.
Three others – Gevin Pasha, aged 21, of Gray Street, Northampton; Klej Doci, aged 19, of St Margaret’s Road, St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex; and Garcon Lala, aged 27, of Eastern Road, Haringey, London – all remain remanded in custody having been charged in December last year.
They are due to appear at Reading Crown Court on Monday, February 6.
And five other men have been arrested and released under investigation:
- A 29-year-old man from South Woodford, London, was arrested on suspicion of blackmail, conspiracy to kidnap, conspiracy to cause GBH with intent and possession with intent to supply cocaine on 15 December last year.
- A 23-year-old man from Enfield, London, was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping on 28 December last year.
- A 23-year-old man from Haringey, London, was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to blackmail and conspiracy to kidnap on 3 March this year.
- A 25-year-old man from Northampton was arrested on suspicion of blackmail, false imprisonment and conspiracy to kidnap on 21 March this year.
- A 30-year-old man from Northampton was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to blackmail and conspiracy to kidnap on 30 March this year.
