After walking a few meters among them hiking trails Hundreds of amateur cyclists from Bogotá mobilize for this every weekend, Three naked and beaten athletes managed to get onto the main road to seek help. More than two hours had passed since a group of criminals held them in the mountains to steal more than 140 million pesos.
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Hours earlier, three residents of Bogotá were frequently visiting the municipality. calera They were out to enjoy a day of sports to develop their cycling brand. It was Saturday afternoon, January 20, and the cyclists left the main road after climbing to the top of the Patios. Use one of the trail routes to continue your journey. They say these trails are well known to athletes in the area and those who frequent them are routes with low crime rates.
But this time, a few minutes after entering the trail, the cyclists found themselves surrounded by five strangers as they rounded a sharp bend where bushes and vegetation prevented them from seeing ahead.
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The men dragged them towards parts of the forest away from the main road.. “They jumped on us, knocked us off our bikes, and in just over ten seconds they took us down an unknown path. They insulted and threatened us while we were walking. Finally, we reached a mountain where our hands and feet were tied,” said one of the victims.
When they arrived at the scene, they forcibly removed their helmets and all their clothing, leaving them completely naked. The victims remained motionless, terrified by the situation and simply begging for someone to come to their aid. They couldn’t get up or try to escape because, in addition to threatening them with death, the thieves had also taken them to a field where they could fall into the surrounding valleys if they lost their balance.. “They took our equipment, tennis shoes, glasses and even socks. “We were left completely naked in the middle of nowhere,” said those affected.
Minutes later, four of the robbers unlocked the victims’ mobile phones and demanded information about their bank accounts, threatening the three athletes with a knife if they resisted. The fifth criminal hid the bikes and belongings to make it easier for him to escape. “A friend of mine, who was more anxious, forgot the passwords to his accounts due to the panic created by the situation. With a severe beating and a few superficial cuts with their rusty weapons, the perpetrators forced him to remember him,” said the cyclist.
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Those affected confirmed that all of the stolen money was sent to Itaú and Davivienda’s bank accounts They were able to show the document number held by the authorities and the names of the people to whom the millionaire figure reached. In fact, according to what they say, there is a phone number registered for transfers that still works and answers calls. In addition to the money taken from their accounts, the criminal group also detained bicycles, mobile phones, electronic devices and all the cyclists’ clothing; the total of this amount exceeded 100 million pesos.
After emptying all your bank accounts and taking your belongings, The thieves, who were preparing to escape, warned the athletes that they would start searching for them and their families if they received a report about the case.. “They insulted us and said they had all our information and if we followed them they would kill us,” said one of those affected.
They told them not to move as they left the place, but left them tied up and to their fate. But 15 minutes after the bandits left, One of the cyclists helped his friends by releasing the seals immobilizing their hands..
An hour and a half after being detained, the athletes walked naked to the main road, where they received help from local residents. They gave them clothes while the authorities gave them clothes to handle the incident. One of those affected had to undergo injections due to possible infections on his skin from the cuts made by the rusty gun.
Officials stated that this was not the first case in the region. As the police who arrived at the scene stated, “the area has been hot in recent months.” However, the athletes reported that neither the banks nor the institutions investigating the incident have reported any progress on this issue so far, and although they have the phone numbers and accounts from which the stolen money came, no one has responded to them. For the amount of millionaires they lost that tragic afternoon.
JULIÁN SANDOVAL
Exclusive to EL TIEMPO
@Julian_sndoval
Source: Exame
