Radio Group denies assault
A resident and employer is infuriated the Sector 3 CPF and Radio Group following an incident last Saturday night when about 30 members wrongfully accused and allegedly assaulted two men for a house burglary that occurred moments earlier in the area.
The two men were innocent and despite their claims were cable-tied, assaulted by numerous men and thereafter dumped in a hole – according to local developer Beesham Hemraj.
“This was after they searched and ransacked the homes where the two men stay in the evenings, near Pongola Street, and found absolutely nothing to link them to a crime,” said Mr Hemraj.
One of the victims, Frank Orlando, has taken special leave from work and is visiting family where he is recovering from the “traumatic ordeal”.
Sam Sibelelo is still at work but also feels unjustly victimized, still trying to cope with what happened. Both men are 22 years old.
But the entire series of events as described by Mr Hemraj has been denied by Sector 3 Chairperson, Mr Gerhard Benz.
Sector 3 covers Aerorand, Mineralia, Groenkol as well as Gholfsig and Clubville
“Various teams were dispatched in patrol vehicles following a house robbery in Hospital Street, and numerous possible suspects were stopped for questioning. Not just two men. Sector 3 CPF is totally opposed to violence and everything is done within the law,” insisted Mr Benz.
Mr Hemraj has a different version.
He said that he got the call about a “situation at the house” just after 19:00 but he was in no way prepared for what happened next.
“When I arrived I saw these group of men, bullet proof vests, some armed, they were in a frenzy. Members of the group were way past the point of any sort of negotiation. You just couldn’t speak to them. Even the Police refused to come when they heard the Radio Group was involved”.
He said that after ransacking the house in a desperate search for any possible link to the earlier crime had proved unsuccessful, radio group members were still adamant that the two men were guilty and insisted on taking them to the police station.
“If you ask me the two men were only victimized because they were black. A house robbery occurred – I understand that residents are sensitive to crime. I’m also a resident of Aerorand and living in Middelburg for 17 years. But that’s not the approach to take, you don’t resort to violence first and ask questions later,” said Mr Hemraj.
“When we got to the Police Station not a single member of the Radio Group was prepared to lay a charge, they all of a sudden realised that they don’t even have a case. It was really a poor showing for what they stand for and how much they know about their surroundings,” said Mr Hemraj.
“That’s not true,” Mr Benz said in his defence.
“As far as I understand there were a few citizens arrests made and fortunately so because and one of them was positively identified by the home owner as the suspect and taken into Police custody, and that’s a success. Maybe it wasn’t one of the two men referred to, but we couldn’t take no chances and only took them to the Police Station to be identified by the home owner, ” said Mr Benz, reiterating again that no one was assaulted and that no member of the group laid their hands on anyone.
“The accusations are baseless,” he said.
