Salamanca. – On Monday August 22, around 200 people closed the Irapuato-Querétaro highway for more than seven hours in order to put pressure on government authorities to recover alive seven young people who were kidnapped.
At 7:00 pm on Friday August 19, in Cerro Gordo neighborhood, a group of armed men kidnapped seven young people (including two teenagers ages 16 and 17) in the city of Salamanca. This situation took place on the road to the “Juventino Rosas” community. The victims were employees at a tire repair small business, known as “La oficina”.
According to the protesters, state or municipal authorities have not provided an official version of the events so far, and have not opned an investigation file which could lead to the whereabouts of the victims.
In response, residents of Cerro Gordo, San Rafael de Cerro Gordo and Zapote de Palomas organized a protest and went to the authorities, which finally opened the missing persons’ investigation file number 24585/16.
Additionally, friends and relatives of the kidnapped blocked the Irapuato-Querétaro highway, the blockade began around 3 pm on Monday August 22, at kilometer 76, just a few kilometers south of the Salamanca tollgate, near Zapote de Palomas.
Protesters placed stones and vehicles in the middle lanes, blocking the road in both directions. They shouted slogans and raised banners and signs demanding the authorities the rescue of their relatives and friends alive.
Federal Police officers arrived onsite, but could not convince protesters to clear the road.
A motorist traveling with his family to Celaya, approached the group and asked them to let him through, but the driver did not succeed, because relatives of the victims responded with tears in their eyes and cries of despair, asking him: “What would you do if your child is taken away by criminals and you do not know anything about him?
The man remained silent and returned to his car.
Officers of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the Attorney General of the State of Guanajuato (Unidad Antisecuestro de la Procuraduría General de Justicia del Estado de Guanajuato -PGJEG), arrived to the scene, and tried to convince the protesters that a serious and professional work is being done in order to find their missing loved ones.
More than seven hours later, the road was reopened to vehicle circulation after 10:00 pm, under the threat that it would be closed again if the missing do not return to their homes alive and well as soon as possible.
Source: http://www.excelsior.com.mx/