West Yorkshire Police have denied reports a gang of machete-armed balaclava-clad kidnappers are snatching students in Leeds after a number of social media posts went viral.
The dismissal comes after a number of social media posts went viral within the student community in Leeds, claiming that a black van had been seen kidnapping students in the city.
A social media user claimed in a Leeds student group that she had witnessed two men armed with machetes and guns in a black van kidnapping a student in Hyde Park, Leeds. Another user then alleged she had seen the kidnap victim being dropped off by his assailants after being robbed of everything, including his shoes.
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Despite concerns among Leeds students, with the posts raising alarm bells, West Yorkshire Police say there is no kidnapping gang prowling the streets of Leeds. The force did confirm it was investigating a reporter of a teenager being dropped off "in suspicious circumstances" but stressed this was an isolated incident.
A spokesman for police said: "At 5.55 pm yesterday police received a report of a youth having been dropped off by a vehicle in the vicinity of Ridge Road, Woodhouse, in suspicious circumstances. The victim, a 17-year-old local male, was subsequently traced to an address in Woodhouse and spoken to by officers.
"Enquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances and background to the incident. It is being treated as an isolated incident and the victim is not believed to have been targeted at random."
