Cops nab suspected robbery gang at KaMhlushwa hideout
Four men, suspected of committing several robberies in the area, are currently behind bars after police raided their hideout.
TONGA – Four men suspected of being responsible for several recent robberies in Nkomazi were arrested during a joint police operation on Friday.
Capt Magonseni Nkosi of Tonga SAPS explained that intelligence linked to a business robbery and attempted murder case in Schoemansdal earlier that day led officers to their hideout in KaMhlushwa.
A Somali shopkeeper was shot four times in the stomach, arm and leg during an armed robbery. The suspects fled with cash and airtime vouchers.
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The victim was rushed to hospital and police were called to the scene. They launched an investigation and one suspect was arrested.
He led them to the hideout in KaMhlushwa, where police arrested three more suspects.
During their search of the hideout, SAPS found three firearms with serial numbers filed off, live ammunition, cash, cellphones, airtime vouchers and dangerous weapons.
Police believe the four men were involved in, among others in KaMhlushwa and Schoemansdal, the four house robberies committed in Mzinti within hours of each other last Monday (October 1).
READ: Criminals hit several homes in Mzinti and Malalane on Monday
The suspects, aged between 27 and 36, appeared in the Nkomazi Magistrate’s Court on Monday and the case was postponed to Wednesday. They will remain in police custody until their bail application on October 24.
A man convicted of murder was also sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment in the Nkomazi Magistrate’s Court last week.
Xolani Zitha was found guilty of murdering Bongani Shongwe (27) on September 9, 2017, in a mob attack. Zitha and Shongwe had been working at the same farm.
According to Const. Zithulele Mhlongo of KaMhlushwa SAPS, a group of about 10 people from KaMdladla went looking for Shongwe at his family home in Phosaville at 03:15. The group banged on the windows demanding that Bongani come out and talk to them. While he was talking to the group, Zitha stabbed him in the back with a knife.
The group fled and left Shongwe bleeding on the ground. Police and EMS were summoned but Shongwe’s wound proved fatal and he was declared dead on the scene.
READ: Mob justice claims another life in Nkomazi
Zitha was arrested on the same day and refused bail. He was kept in police custody until his conviction and sentencing.
The KaMhlushwa station commander, Capt Mzwandile Nyambi, was happy about the sentencing and applauded the KaMhlushwa CIS team, under the command of W/O Mduduzi Shongwe, for their good job. “The station is new but the members are committed. Our policing area is not a playground for criminals,” Nyambi said.
