Heavily armed police kept guard at the Howick Magistrate's court, where 11 men were appearing on charges linked to the bombing of a string of ATMs. Pictures: Shan Pillay Heavily armed police kept guard at the Howick Magistrate's court, where 11 men were appearing on charges linked to the bombing of a string of ATMs. Pictures: Shan Pillay
Eleven men alleged to be members of a gang responsible for a string of ATM bombings in KwaZulu-Natal appeared in the Howick Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday amid a high police presence.
The men have been charged with murder and attempted murder, contravening the Explosives and Firearms Act and malicious damage to property.
They have been linked to attacks on ATMs in Gauteng, KZN, the Western Cape and Free State in recent months. Hardest hit in KZN was the Midlands area.
Since October, bombings have been reported in Nottingham Road, Howick, Greytown, Camperdown and Bergville.
A Pietermaritzburg policeman, Vidhur Jadoo, was killed in an ambush following the bombing of two ATMs at the Merrivale Spar.
The men were in a minibus in Mtubatuba on Sunday morning when they were arrested by members of the Richards Bay Flying squad.
The squad was acting on a tip-off from the Pietermaritzburg Serious and Violent Crime Unit that the gang was on the Hlabisa Road (R618).
The men, all from Gauteng, according to police sources, were not asked to plead and were remanded in custody until January 22.