Durban — Two suspects were arrested over armed robberies committed in the Pietermaritzburg area when a multidisciplinary team was investigating an armed robbery of Intercape bus passengers.
AET Security spokesperson Renee Veenstra said a joint operation was conducted by the Hilton detectives, Hilton Vispol and AET Security. They were following up on information about Thornville armed robbery and theft cases.
Veenstra said that recently, an Intercape bus was approached by six suspects who stopped it and robbed the occupants, taking about 60 cellphones and about R20 000 cash.
She said that information was gathered and the suspects were identified.
“The leads which were provided and followed up on positively led the team to one of the suspects. This suspect was arrested and subsequently also linked to another Thornville business armed robbery, and to a Thornville robbery with a firearm,” Veenstra said.
“On further investigation, the suspect was also linked to three other armed robberies in the Plessislaer policing area, as well as another three in the Pietermaritzburg CBD policing area. The investigation continues to assess whether or not this suspect is linked to any other crimes in the area.”
Veenstra said that another suspect was also located and linked to a robbery and assault case in the Thornville area.
“The hunt for the remaining suspects is ongoing and the team will not rest until all perpetrators are behind bars,” Veenstra said.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Nqobile Gwala said that police arrested a 25-year-old man on Wednesday morning in connection with an armed robbery.
“He will appear in court soon. The suspect will also be profiled to check if he could be linked to other serious and violent cases in Pietermaritzburg and surrounding areas,” Gwala said.
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