‘Dirty cops’ held hostage
Residents claim the police shake them down for bribes in exchange for protection.
Residents of Pretoria West held two police officers hostage on Thursday evening, after suspecting them of stealing thousands of rand.
M.S Hashi, a resident and local business forum chairperson , told Rekord that the police often came to Bangladeshi and Pakistani shopowners in Luttig Street and threaten them with arrest if they don’t pay payola.
He said two men driving an unmarked car, arrived at a spaza shop operating from a house around 20:00. They announced themselves as police officer looking for illegal immigrants but failed to produce their police badges. The two then searched the premises.
“A few minutes later, they took R50 000 and two smart phones in one of the shops which is situated in the house,” Hashi said adding that an alarmed was raised and locals immediately locked the gate to prevent the men from leaving.
“You can’t just take people’s money or belongings without a reason, I do understand why the community did that.”
Hushi said residents called the Pretoria West police station and the officers who responded confirmed that the two hostages were indeed police officers.
“Despite residents opening a case against them, they were not arrested, instead two Bangladeshi nationals were taken in,” Hashi said.
Pretoria West Community Policing Forum (CPF) chairperson Thesigan Pillay said residents informed him that police officers had been held hostage.
“They said the officers were taking bribes, and last night, they decided to take a stand,” said Pillay.
“I plead with residents, on behalf of the CPF, to never take the law into their own hands.”
Police spokesperson Constable Tumisang Moloto said he was aware of the allegation.
“I cannot confirm the incident at the moment, the investigation is ongoing and as soon as I have something, I will comment,” he said.
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