Four bakkies and one all-terrain utility vehicle were recently hijacked in Ermelo.

Capt Carla Prinsloo, spokesman of Ermelo Police, said these include Toyota double cab bakkies as well as a Toyota Fortuner.

She stated that carjackings have been on the rise in Ermelo since 22 May.

According to police, armed criminals in groups of two and four, operate between 18:30 and 21:00 in the evenings.

“Some unsuspecting victims were forced into their own vehicles, robbed of personal belongings or cash and then left deserted in a field or next to a national road,” she said.

Thus far, police have been able to arrest one suspect in connection with the above mentioned vehicle thefts.

They recovered a Toyota Fortuner in Malelane.

Read the complete article in the Highvelder newspaper.