A FORMER Port Shepstone police officer who had been stationed at the Public Order Policing Unit, handed himself over to police in connection with a murder.
Lieutenant-Colonel Solomon Makgale from the National Commissioner’s office said Warrant Officer Claude Reginald, who is now an officer at the Public Order Police Unit in Durban, was arrested with five others in connection with the murder of Durban businessman Narend Anandrai (46).
The five others include an advocate, an attorney, a former policeman, and two businessmen.
“In March this year, Mr Anandrai was shot several times while in his car outside his house in Havenside, Chatsworth. During the shooting, Anandrai’s car burst into flames, with him trapped inside, causing him to be burnt beyond recognition,” said Lt-Col Makgale.
A team of detectives made their first breakthrough when they arrested a 37-year-old Chatsworth resident, Gregory Pillay, on August 11.
Pillay subsequently pleaded guilty to a charge of murder and was sentenced to an effective 18 years’ imprisonment.
It was determined that the motive for the killing of Anandrai was that he had lent money, in the region of R4.4-million, to a small group of people. His debtors then allegedly hired Pillay to kill him.
Further intensive investigations led to the team securing warrants for the arrest of six suspects. The following five suspects initially handed themselves over to the police almost immediately after they were contacted, namely attorney Jayshree Baijnath (39), former policeman Dhanaseelan Manickam (43), Warrant Officer Claude Reginald (43), and businessmen Shana Mangroo (44) and Rajendran Chetty (44).
The sixth suspect, an advocate from Mount Edgecombe, Veronica Rathilal, surrendered to police late on Sunday. All six appeared in the Chatsworth Magistrate’s Court on Monday this week on a charge of murder.
“Warrant Officer Reginald will also be facing disciplinary charges which will run concurrently with the criminal charges,” said Lt-Col Makgale.
