A company in the watch industry was the scene on Thursday evening of a hostage-taking in Le Locle (NE). Four people were kidnapped for nearly two hours. The perpetrators fled with loot of unknown amount. According to the information given by the Neuchâtel police, there were no injuries to be deplored. The four victims are shocked and were supervised by a specialized service. The facts took place around 6 p.m. in the district of La Jaluse de la Mère-Commune.
“The Neuchâtel police have been informed by witnesses that a hostage-taking was in progress in Le Locle,” his spokesperson Georges-André Lozouet said on RTN on Friday. A “very important” police device has been deployed. The perimeter was closed momentarily to allow the operation.
Also read: Confidences of a robber in love with Swiss watches
To neighboring France
“We have been reinforced for special units by a neighboring canton,” said Georges-André Lozouet. The operation ended around 8:30 p.m. The Neuchâtel Police have not given further details for the time being, referring to the publication of a press release on Friday. The spokesperson thus did not comment on the information relayed by the French daily L’Est Républicain to know if a link could be made with the shooting which broke out shortly after in the town of Pontarlier, in the department. of the Doubs. The company targeted by the hostage-taking is the polishing company Calçada.
This type of misdeed is not uncommon in the Jura Arc. The watch industry is most often the victim. Thus, last November, six thugs had taken hostage a company director and all of his family in Bassecourt (JU), before stealing quantities of gold stored in the premises.
Read about it: After the hostage-taking in the Jura, what you need to know about the management of gold in watchmaking companies
The authors had fled with their hostages in the direction of neighboring France, forcing a roadblock installed at the border at Lucelle. The director and his family were then abandoned, like his vehicle, in a forest near Bourrignon. The thugs escaped the police.
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