Dnepr racketeers tortured military men for their money

Kidnapping and extortion

Dnepr racketeers tortured military men for their money in order to obtain data on the military unit where they served and their bank cards. According to the press service of the National Police in the Dnipropetrovsk region, a pre-trial investigation is ongoing.

On August 11, two men aged 29 and 34 were detained in the village of Novooleksandrivka, Dnepr district. Law enforcement officers established that the attackers were involved in racketeering, kidnapping, torture, extortion and possession of weapons.

Tortured for information

In July of this year, the attackers kidnapped a 31-year-old military man, took him to a forest plantation, tied him to a tree and began to torture him. They beat the victim and used an electric shocker to force him to give up the pin codes of his bank cards, the location of the military unit where he served, and the data of his fellow servicemen. They also demanded 10,000 US dollars from him.

However, the serviceman did not give his torturers the information they needed. The attackers then let him go.

Extortion and capture

In the same month, the racketeers kidnapped another two military men aged 30 and 35. They took them to a private house and tortured them in the same way as the first victim. The extortionists obtained the data of the victims' bank cards and extorted 75,000 hryvnias from them.

On August 11, based on information received, the Dnepr police detained the suspects on the street. During the arrest, 2 pistols, 2 magazines with cartridges, a gas cartridge and a black mask were seized from them.

The suspects were informed of the suspicion of committing crimes under Part 2 of Art. 189 (extortion), Part 2 of Art. 146 (illegal deprivation of liberty or kidnapping), Part 2 of Art. 27 and Part 2 of Art. 127 (torture) and Part 1 of Art. 263 (illegal handling of weapons, ammunition or explosives) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Currently, the issue of choosing a preventive measure in the form of detention is being decided in court.