A Tanzanian businessman and former member of parliament for the ruling CCM party was seized by unidentified men in Dar es Salaam on Thursday, the regional commissioner said.
Mohammed Dewji, the owner and president of the multi-billion dollar revenue Mohammed Enterprises Tanzania Ltd (METL Group), was seized as he arrived for a morning workout at a luxury hotel in the country's commercial capital.
Dar es Salaam regional commissioner Paul Makonda said the businessman was kidnapped by two men as he entered the hotel.
"They fired a gun and then they opened the gate," Makonda said, adding that security personnel had started a search for Dewji.
Witnesses, including the guards manning the gate at the hotel, were being questioned, he said.