A Mozambican businessman was shot in the leg when he and a companion were chased by a VW Polo fitted with blue lights in Mbombela on Thursday night.

Paul del Ré said he was driving with his friend in a Kia SUV with Mozambican numberplates when two suspects shot at their vehicle without warning. The vehicle, fitted with blue lights, chased after them on Samora Machel Drive and the R40.

“We noticed the car was following us when we left i’langa Mall after our dinner, driving back to the hotel. The suspects flickered the blue lights attached to the grille and demanded us to stop as they trailed us. They fired several shots at us. One hit me coming through the passenger door,” he said.

Del Ré said they managed to stop at the Sonpark Shopping Centre when the suspects had fled.

He said the suspects wore yellow and orange reflective jackets, the type usually worn by police, and one of the shooters wore blue medical gloves.

“We knew they could not be the police when we saw the gloves, which gave us more reason not to stop.

“Divergent Ops responded to us at the fuel station at Sonpark while I was treated by paramedics from ER24. We tried to get help from people in that area, without luck, and no police members responded to the scene. The medics transported me to the hospital and the security company escorted my companion to the hotel with our car.”

Del Ré, the vice president of the Automóvel and Touring Clube de Moçambique, and his friend had settled in Mbombela and planned to travel to Swartkop in Pretoria yesterday.

Juandré Rautenbach of Divergent Ops said, “We are suspecting a criminal syndicate operating in police uniforms. However, we cannot confirm if the suspects were in a full police uniform. Further investigations continue.”

Lowvelder has sent a media query to the police and a provincial police spokesperson, Captain Magonseni Nkosi, said he would respond to it soon. No response was received at the time of publishing.