HORROR IN DAILY RENT APARTMENT in central Belgrade: Police find seven starving men, one badly beaten

Illustration; Photo: MUP

Unprecedented drama, suggesting this to be a case of organized people trafficking, unfolded yesterday in the heart of Belgrade, on Obilicev Venac, Telegraf.rs has been able to confirm.

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After receiving an emergency call, the police discovered seven migrants locked inside a luxurious short-term rental apartment. The men were in catastrophic condition - starving, exhausted, and panicked, one of them also visibly beaten.

Call for help in English, owner in shock

The police received a call from a building on Oblicev Venac. One of the men, speaking in English, pleaded for help and asked for someone to come and unlock the door.

When the patrol arrived, there was another twist. They first contacted the apartment's owner, who was left utterly shocked.

"The man explained that it was true that he rents (the apartment) on a daily basis, but that no one was currently staying there. He was completely stunned," the source said.

The owner confirmed that the apartment had not been rented out, and it is suspected that an unknown person who had the entry code took advantage of it being empty. A particularly chilling detail is that there were no signs of forced entry.

They paid €1,000 to become prisoners

The migrants told the police how they ended up in captivity.

“Seven migrants paid 1,000 euros to a third person to help them cross the border. That person brought them to the apartment, locked them in, and told them not to move. They were found panicked and terrified and, it has been revealed, had been left without food and drink," the source said.

When the police managed to enter the apartment, they encountered a horrifying scene.

Along with the seven imprisoned migrants, the apartment itself was in terrible condition, and one victim was severely beaten.

Organized trafficking network investigated

This incident is not isolated. Just a few days earlier, in the same part of central Belgrade, neighbors alerted the police after hearing suspicious noises from an apartment. In that case, as many as 15 migrants were found locked inside in similar conditions.

The Serbian police are now intensively investigating whether the cases are connected and whether an organized people trafficking network is operating in Belgrade, using rented apartments as temporary locations where migrants are kept imprisoned.

(Telegraf.rs. Kurir)