Kidnapped businessman found dead in western Turkey

ISTANBUL – Doğan News Agency

The dead body of a kidnapped businessman has been found buried in the western province of Kocaeli and police have detained 19 suspects in connection to the kidnapping and killing.

Mehmet Turgut, a businessman who mysteriously disappeared on April 26, was found dead in a house in Kocaeli’s Ballıca neighborhood. His kidnappers demanded a ransom payment of 5 million euros from his family and he was later found beaten to death.

Police have detained 19 suspects in multiple operations in the western provinces of Kocaeli and Balıkesir, the Central Anatolian province of Kırıkkale, and the southeastern province of Van, as part of an investigation launched by the Istanbul Police Department Public Order Directorate Missing Persons Bureau.

Six of the suspects were detained in Van and reported to be leaders of the gang that kidnapped Turgut for ransom. Among the six are sons of a notorious drug dealer.

The detained suspects reportedly confessed during their interrogation that they took Turgut to a house in Kocaeli where they beat him to death, one day before they buried him. 

The dead body of Turgut was found in a dig-out in Kocaeli’s Ballıca neighborhood after suspects told police where they had buried the man’s body.

The body of Turgut has been taken to the Forensic Medical Morgue for examination.

The investigation is still ongoing and the number of detentions could rise.