POLICE NEARLY KILLED, VILLAINS SOUGHT

POLICE NEARLY KILLED, VILLAINS SOUGHT

NELSPRUIT - The Police in Mpumalanga are on a manhunt for thugs who attempted to kill a senior and junior member of the police service in separate incidents.

on Tuesday 14 July 2015, at approximately 20:30, a commander of Lebombo Port of Entry, Colonel Michael Mhlanga (50) was allegedly kidnapped while on duty in Komatipoort. Information at our disposal revealed that the officer was at a stop sign when he heard someone knocking on the window of his vehicle and suddenly jumped inside. The miscreant held him at gunpoint and demanded his firearm.

After the ordeal, the suspect instructed him to drive while he (suspect) kept contact with unknown people through a cellphone. Their trip ended up when they came across a white Volkswagen Polo with unknown number of occupants. The suspect had a talk with occupant(s) in the Polo and thereafter two shots were fired towards the officer’s direction, fortunately he was not injured, only the window of his vehicle was shattered. The suspect and occupant(s) in the Polo fled the scene with the state firearm of the officer.

On the other incident, it is reported that on Monday, 13 July 2015, at approximately 21:00, a cash in transit was reported to the police in Witbank and they responded.

It was reported that the employees of G4S were on their way to their depot with an armoured vehicle to hand over money which was collected throughout the day. About 100 metres to the depot, a silver Mercedes Benz emerged from nowhere and bumped at their vehicle. In the process, a group of about 10 men started shooting at the employees and forced them out of the vehicle to the ground. The men then used explosives to open the back of the vehicle and took undisclosed amount of cash, then fled the scene.

A lookout for the getaway vehicle of the suspects was conveyed to the members on patrol. One of the police van, spotted the suspects’ vehicle on the Ogies Road and gave chase. When the suspects saw the police, they fired shots at them using high calibre weapons and as a result, Constable Mike Khoza (26) was injured on his leg and was taken to the hospital for medical treatment. 

Cases of attempted murder were opened on both incidents for investigation and no one has been arrested yet. Police urge any person with information to contact Captain Louis Stander at 082 449 0242, for the Komatipoort incident and Colonel Faan Steenkamp at 082 565 7656 for the Witbank one.