Chaos amid Pagad jail break
Source:The Herald Online
CAPE TOWN – Three awaiting trial prisoners are still on the run after a group of suspects – including a high-profile Pagad member facing murder charges – made a daring escape from the Cape High Court during a lunch break yesterday.
Police have launched a massive search for three of the seven suspects, all of who were facing charges relating to urban terror.
Four were re-arrested within two hours in Crawford and Athlone in Cape Town. Among those to escape were Ebrahim Jeneker, a member of the G-Force of Pagad, Abdullah Maansdorp, Abubaker Jacobs, Nazrodien Gamaldien, Anees Adams, Moegamat Cornellson and Moneeb Peterson.
Jeneker, along with the Maansdorp brothers Abdullah and Ismail, faces 138 charges including murder, attempted murder and several robberies in the Western Cape.
Superintendent Denise Brand said Jeneker and Gamaldien were re-arrested in Crawford while Adams and Cornellson were apprehended in Athlone.
Jeneker, along with the Maansdorp brothers Abdullah and Ismail, faces 138 charges including murder, attempted murder and several robberies in the Western Cape.
Superintendent Denise Brand said Jeneker and Gamaldien were re-arrested in Crawford while Adams and Cornellson were apprehended in Athlone.
Jeneker suffered an injury to his leg but Supt Brand was unable to confirm whether he was shot or injured his leg when he jumped over a wall in Crawford to evade arrest.
Supt Brand said the men made their escape at 1.30pm when they grabbed a policeman’s firearm at the court. They ran through the city centre, hotly pursued by police. Shots were fired.
The escapees hijacked a Toyota Venture in Adderley Street and sped off.
Supt Brand could not confirm whether police had fired shots but members of the public caught in the maelstrom in St George’s Mall heard four or five shots being fired and saw police running along the mall shouting to bystanders to seek refuge in shops.
Pedestrians scattered in all directions as police on foot patrols also joined in.
An eyewitness said he saw a parked car with a taxi sign on it in front of the Reserve Bank in Hout Street surrounded by police.
Another eyewitness said he saw a “gun sliding down” the cobbled paving of the mall at one stage. Parts of Hout Street were cordoned off during the commotion.
It was not immediately known why the men were in court as the High Court is in recess, but it was possible they were consulting their legal advisers.
DA safety and security spokesman Andre Gaum said the escape was “disturbing and unacceptable”.
“One would have expected drastically improved security measures in cases involving urban terror,” Mr Gaum said. – Sapa
