WITHIN hours of a woman being found dead with a bullet-hole between her eyes, those allegedly responsible for her murder were identified, tracked down and arrested.
They are in police custody and are expected to appear in the Scottburgh Magistrates’ Court on today (Friday, May 29) on a charge of murder.
Captain Vincent Pandarum said a woman, thought to be in her early 30s, was found dead in a sugarcane field in Thafeni Ward, Amandawe near Scottburgh on Wednesday this week. The identity of the woman is yet to be positively established.
A murder docket was assigned to Detective Sergeant Njabulo Latha of the Scottburgh SAPS Detective Service who immediately teamed up with Detective Warrant Officer Yugen Moodley and Detective Constable Weidon Govender of the Scottburgh Cluster Detective Task Team and Scottburgh Crime Intelligence.
“Information was gathered via an informer network and it was established that the deceased was one of two women who had been seen leaving a tavern in Park Rynie in the company of two men the night before,” said Cpt Pandarum.
Their investigations led the team to a homestead in Thafeni Ward in Dududu. That same evening, accompanied by Warrant Officer Brian Khumalo and Sergeant Kenneth Glover of the Umzinto K9 Unit, they raided the homestead.
The alleged gunman walked out of a room straight into the hands of Detective Warrant Officer Yugen Moodley who promptly arrested him. The policeman recovered a 9mm pistol from the man.
Cpt Pandarum said it was later established that the gun had been reported stolen during a burglary in Umkomaas in 2007. A thorough search of the premises resulted in the arrest of the second suspect, as well as the woman who had been seen leaving the tavern with the deceased. They were hiding in different rooms in the homestead.
“It is really a matter of ‘strike while the iron is hot’ that ensured this case was solved. The swift action by the investigating officer and his support team is commendable and is obviously the reason for the successful arrests and recovery of the firearm,” said Lieutenant General Mmamonnye Ngobeni, the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commissioner.
Cpt Pandarum said that the gun will be subjected to ballistics tests to determine if it is indeed the murder weapon and if it had been used in any other criminal offences.
