The suspects aged between 25 and 37 were nabbed during an intelligence led joint operation by various police units, private security and members of the Community Police Forum which was conducted in the Tzaneen Cluster on Friday.

Recently, a 39-year-old man was robbed of cash and bank cards after he was offered a lift by people travelling in a blue VW Golf with three occupants.

Read: Hitchhiker robbed outside Tzaneen

“We followed information from members of the community about a blue VW Golf which was involved in several hitchhiking robberies around the Tzaneen Cluster. Within a short space of time, one suspect was arrested in the Tzaneen CBD driving the vehicle matching the description of the said vehicle,” said police spokesperson, Colonel Moatshe Ngoepe.

Ngoepe said that further investigation led the police to Lenyenye Township, where the suspect’s alleged accomplices were spotted travelling in a white BMW without registration numbers.

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“The BMW was pulled off the road but it sped off and a motor vehicle chase ensued until it was cornered at a neighbouring village but three suspects abandoned it and ran into the nearby bushes on foot. They were chased and arrested,” said Ngoepe. During the arrest, the following items were recovered; two motor vehicles, 14 cell phones and clothes.

The suspects are still being profiled to check if they may be connected to a number of similar cases and other crimes emanating from the hiking spots which it is believed they committed in the Tzaneen, Mankweng and Makhado Clusters including in some other parts of the province.

The Provincial Police Commissioner, Lieutenant General Nneke Ledwaba, commended the police, private security and the community police forum for the job well done in arresting suspects believed to have been terrorising members of the community for some time.