Five policemen have been arrested for alleged involvement in a Johannesburg jewellery-store robbery, Gauteng police said on Monday. Police spokesman Colonel Neville Malila said two officers were arrested at their homes in Pretoria on Sunday following an armed robbery in Jeppe Street, Johannesburg. This brought the number of policemen arrested in the matter to five. The first three were arrested on Friday after leaving a robbery at a jewellery store on the corner of Jeppe and Harrison streets.
The two officers, both aged 41, arrested on Sunday were from the Pretoria West and Boschkop detective branches. They would face charges of armed robbery and possession of an illegal firearm when they appeared in the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court on Monday. Malila said the investigator would request a postponement for further investigation.
During a search of the homes detectives confiscated an R5 rifle with two magazines, 60 rounds of ammunition and 19 case dockets from different detective branches. “Detectives have positively linked some of the jewellery that was confiscated from the arrested suspects, as well as the rifle, to an armed robbery at the North Gate Mall's NWJ jewellery shop on October 4.”
During the October 4 robbery, a group of between eight and 12 men shot and killed a jewellery-shop manager, aged 38, and wounded four other people before fleeing the scene, Malila said. “Several suspects have been arrested in the matter that is currently before court.”
The Hawks arrested another three officers, aged between 31 and 35, in an unrelated matter on Thursday in Magaliesburg. The constables were wanted in connection with a November 10 truck hijacking. They would appear in the Magaliesburg Magistrate's Court on Monday on charges of corruption. These arrests brought the number of police officials arrested the past few days to eight, Malila said.
Gauteng police provincial commissioner Mzwandile Petros warned police officers that corruption would not be tolerated. He said since September 1 more than 125 police officials had been arrested for corruption and other related cases. This showed the “vigour and seriousness of this management to root out corruption”. “SAPS members responsible for tarnishing our professional image will be severely dealt with and must face the consequences of their corrupt behaviour,” he said in a statement. Internal SAPS disciplinary investigations into the suspension of the members were underway.
Source: IoL
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