Inspector General of Police (IG) Richard Luhanga has linked last month’s kidnapping of British national Nusrat Osman in Blantyre to that of Crossroads Hotel owner Sameer Sacranie in Lilongwe in February.
The top cop told The Nation that investigations into the two cases have established similarities in the methods used by the suspects before carrying out the abductions, including the acquisition of land and construction of structures where victims will be held.
“From what we have gathered, the suspects who abducted Osman in Blantyre are the same individuals that abducted the director of Crossroads Hotel, Sacranie. This is based on our findings through the investigations,” said Luhanga.
Sacranie was abducted at Crossroads Hotel in Lilongwe on February 6 while Osman was kidnapped at her home in Mount Pleasant low density residential area in Blantyre in September and later rescued in a police operation that resulted in a shoot-out between law enforcers and suspected kidnappers.
Osman, a British mother of two and auditor with a local firm, was kidnapped on September 11 2026, around 12.30pm.
Police said she was abducted by four men who jumped out of a grey Nissan Dualis as she returned home after dropping her children at school.
But police said eight suspects were involved in Osman’s abduction, with six still at large and two killed during the shoot-out that led to her rescue.
Police said some people have been arrested, including a woman believed to be linked to one of the suspects who provided information that helped police trace the properties.
In an interview on Thursday, the police chief said investigations were continuing to establish the motive behind the crimes, including whether the suspects were demanding ransom from the victims’ families or whether there was someone else behind the abductions.
Luhanga said police were also investigating whether the two cases were part of a wider operation and whether other people were involved in planning or financing the kidnappings.
But he said the suspects have a similar structure in Lilongwe at Nankuwawa, Chinsapo, on the outskirts of the city, where Sacranie is believed to have been held.
The police investigations found that the land in Chinsapo was bought between January and December for about K85 million, with additional money spent on construction.
In the Blantyre case, the suspects allegedly acquired land in Chadzunda’s Mingale area for about K4.5 million, where the structure was built before Osman’s abduction. The cost of construction was not immediately available.
“When we interviewed the locals in Chinsapo, they also gave similar descriptions of occupants that are similar to the Blantyre suspects. But apart from that, the people in our custody identified their friends who are the same names of the suspects in the Blantyre incident. Even the woman who is the girlfriend identified her boyfriend in the Crossroads footage,” Luhanga said.
Deputy Inspector General of Police Noel Kayira and Osman were both hospitalised at Mwaiwathu Private Hospital for a week following their injuries during the rescue.
The two were discharged last week.
Police identified the killed suspects as Marcolino Munguambe, a Mozambican national born on February 9 1983 in Maputo, and Limbani Anthony, a Malawian born on February 6 1982.
