Australian police have arrested two men over the alleged kidnapping and murder of an 85-year-old grandfather who investigators say was killed after being mistaken for a relative of a convicted armed robber linked to the Alameddine crime network.
Detectives allege that the victim, identified as Sydney widower Chris Baghsarian, was abducted from his North Ryde home on February 13 by men acting on behalf of an underworld group.
His remains were later found near a golf club on Sydney's northwestern outskirts following a large-scale search, prompting a homicide investigation, according to CBS News.
Officers from the Robbery and Serious Crime Squad arrested a 24-year-old man and a 29-year-old man in coordinated early-morning raids in the city's northwest. Police expect the pair to be charged in connection with the kidnapping and murder, alleging they were hired to snatch a man believed to have underworld ties.
Investigators say Baghsarian and his family had no links to organized crime and believe he was the victim of a calculated but misdirected plot. Detectives are working on the theory that the intended target was a relative of a convicted armed robber and streetwear brand founder allegedly associated with the west Sydney-based Alameddine crime network, My Leader Paper reported.
Police previously told reporters they were "million percent" confident the assailants had seized the wrong man, stressing the abduction was not random but based on faulty intelligence about the intended victim. Officers believe the suspects went to the quiet suburban street specifically looking for a man linked to the crime group, but instead took the elderly grandfather.
Baghsarian, a widower who lived alone, was described by authorities as a beloved father and grandfather who had led a law-abiding life. In a brief statement released through the police, his family said they welcomed news of the arrests but asked for privacy as they tried to come to terms with the "devastating" incident.
Detectives continue to investigate who ordered the kidnapping and whether further suspects were involved in planning or carrying out the attack. Police have appealed for anyone with information about the movements of the suspects or vehicles in the North Ryde and northwestern Sydney areas around February 13 to contact them, as per the Straits Times.
