Gunmen free prisoners in police van
August 26
2015 at 09:01am
By
Tankiso Makhetha
Pretoria -
Police have launched a manhunt for two suspects who escaped from a police van
in Atteridgeville on Tuesday.
Two of the
suspects were among a group of 11 awaiting-trial accused who were being
transported to Kgosi Mampuru II Prison from Atteridgeville Magistrate’s Court.
Police are also
looking for five gunmen who pounced on the police van which was transporting
the group of prisoners, freeing the two suspects. The incident happened at
about noon on Tuesday when the group of armed assailants travelling in a maroon
sedan blocked the van transporting the prisoners.
The five men
armed with an AK47, an R-5 rifle and three handguns got out of the vehicle and
forced the two police officers transporting the prisoners out of the van.
Police
spokesman Captain Tsekiso Mofokeng said the officers were held at gunpoint
while the suspects opened the van and freed two suspects.
The two
escapees are Bethuel Fosi, 25, who was arrested for theft and Abram Matombo, 36
who was arrested for armed robbery. Police cordoned off the area where the
police van was parked on the corner of Matshiga and Mngandi streets.
Provincial
police commissioner Lieutenant-General Lesetja Mothiba was also on the scene,
along with about 30 police officers.
However,
residents in the township who witnessed the incident gave a slightly different
account of the escape. One of them, who cannot be named as he fears for his
life, said while the two suspects escaped on foot, there was a third who was
taken from the back of the van and ferried away in the maroon sedan.
“I saw two
gunmen who had forced the officers to lie on the ground while a third, who was
wielding a pick-axe, broke open the door of the van. They took one of the
handcuffed guys, who was wearing a black jacket, and drove off with him. The
other two ran away on foot,” he said.
It is believed
that the gunmen were after Dimakatso Surprise Mametsa, 21, and Mmabatho Melva
Muduwa, 26, who were arrested at the weekend for the murder of Constable Ronald
Baloyi.
The pair
appeared briefly in the Atteridgeville Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
Their matter
was postponed to September 1 for an identity parade to be conducted.
tankiso.makhetha@inl.co.za
Pretoria News
