Father shot dead 'to silence him' as a witness

A SHALLCROSS father, who was a State witness in an attempted murder case, was killed when armed men, posing as police officers, forced their way into his flat and shot him more than 30 times while he was asleep in his bedroom.

Justin Pillay, 40, a father of two, was killed in full view of his father, Poobalan Govindsamy Pillay, 68, in the early hours of Tuesday.

A relative, who did not want to be named, said he believed Justin was killed because he was a State witness in an attempted murder case.

“The attempted murder case is linked to a 2024 shooting, where Justin escaped unharmed. Justin’s employee was shot. He was a State witness in the case, which has been ongoing. The trial was expected to continue in October in the Durban Regional Court. This may have been a plot to silence him,” the relative claimed.

KZN police had not responded to questions at the time of going to print.

His distraught sisters, Sarah Pillay and Sandy Gangan, said this was the second time Justin had been ambushed and shot at in his Taurus Street flat.

They said he owned Jujus Towing and was looking forward to expanding his business.

The sisters’ said they viewed CCTV footage from cameras outside Justin’s home, which showed the armed suspects breaking down the front door and forcing their way into the home.

“My father and Justin lived together. They were asleep when about six men broke down the back door of the flat. My dad spotted them first. He was asleep in the lounge. They said they were police officers, but none of them were wearing police uniforms in the footage. 

“Some of them had their faces covered with balaclavas. My brother was asleep in his bedroom. The gunmen went into his room and opened fire. They shot him over 30 times all over his face, head and body.

“My dad tried to get off the sofa and screamed for them to not kill my brother, but they shot at him. The bullet went through his pillow and he is lucky to have survived,” Sarah said.

Gangan said on September 2, 2024, Justin dodged bullets and escaped with his life when gunmen had entered his home and opened fire.

“They came into his house and shot at him, but he managed to escape. His employee was shot in the leg. After that shooting, my dad had a stroke from the shock and stress. He is still unwell, and has been further traumatised by this incident. This time, they came into the house while he was sleeping and shot him in a cowardly manner. 

“We believe this was a revenge attack, stemming from an altercation that led to the shooting last year. We do not want to speculate why he was killed. But we hope that police will find his killers,” Gangan added.

She described Justin as a “people’s person” who loved his two children, who are nine and two years old. 

“He loved his family and was looking forward to expanding his business in a few months. We are devastated by his death,” she said.

THE POST