Tevez kidnap agony over

BUENOS AIRES — The father of Argentine football star Carlos Tevez, Segundo Tevez, who was kidnapped early on Tuesday, has been released after the striker reportedly paid 
a ransom.

A family lawyer, Gustavo Galasso, said Tevez senior “is free, he is in good condition and has been reunited with his family”.

A ransom thought to be around 400,000 pesos (S$59,000) was paid to the kidnappers, said the Buenos Aires-based Clarin newspaper, but neither the family nor the authorities have confirmed whether a payment was made.

Tevez, who plays for Juventus, had initially planned to fly home from his Turin base in Italy in response to the situation, but “decided not to in light of the good news”, said the Governor of Buenos Aires province, Daniel Scioli.

The victim was kidnapped early on Tuesday morning while driving his car on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, and it was only good fortune on behalf of the hijackers that they unwittingly targeted the father of a millionaire football star.

Scioli said the kidnapping began as an intended car-jacking, but when the assailants realised who Segundo Tevez was after checking the car’s papers, they “recaptured him as he was walking away, put him in another car and began calling the family to extort money from them”.

The car was found abandoned several hours later, and Argentine federal police received a 911 call from the football player’s sister-in-law, said the reports.

Carlos Tevez was adopted by his maternal aunt and her husband, Segundo Tevez, as a baby. AGENCIES