A POLICE official (46) from Burgersfort was granted bail of R1 000 after he was arrested for allegedly robbing a senior citizen of the money he had just withdrawn from an ATM.
Provincial police spokesperson, Brig Hangwani Mulaudzi, said the police official allegedly approached the 59-year-old man on Saturday afternoon, produced his police appointment card, and claimed that he was investigating fraud cases in the area.
The elderly man was reportedly taken to a secluded area where his cell phone was seized and his money was switched with an envelope full of newspaper cuttings, whereafter the perpetrator ran away.
Mulaudzi said the victim alerted the police shortly thereafter. “A search ensued and the police official was spotted at the local mall and was arrested,” Mulaudzi said.
He further said additional investigations were being done to ascertain whether the suspect could be linked to similar cases in Burgersfort, Hoedspruit, and other areas.
Mulaudzi said the suspect had been charged with robbery and departmental steps would also be instituted against him.
He appeared before the Burgersfort magistrate’s court on Monday and was granted R1 000 bail. He is due to appear again on September 4.
• In another unrelated incident, the police in Dennilton arrested three suspected hijackers following a shoot-out, which left one person dead.
“The three men allegedly hijacked their 55-year-old victim, who is from Gauteng, at gunpoint near the Moutse Mall early on Saturday morning. The victim managed to alert the police and the hijacked vehicle was spotted driving around in Magakadimeng settlement.
“The police ordered the suspects to stop, but they sped off whilst shooting at the police. A car chase ensued and the suspects lost control of the vehicle and it overturned. The three were arrested on the spot and on further inspection, the police found the body of an unidentified woman trapped inside the hijacked vehicle,” Mulaudzi said.
He said the unknown woman died as a result of the impact. An unlicensed firearm with ammunition was also retrieved by the police, he said.
The three suspects aged 27, 24 and 29 years, are currently under police guard at the local hospital with serious injuries. “They will appear soon before the local magistrate’s court charged with various crimes including attempted murder, possession of an unlicensed firearm and reckless and negligent driving,” Mulaudzi said
Investigations continue.
