Durban - The wife of slain policeman Ajith Krishanlal has condemned the arrest of his colleague, Dumisani Dladla, who shot and killed the man believed responsible for her husband’s death.
Krishanlal was killed during a shoot-out with robbers at a New Germany KFC in October. Minutes later Dladla shot dead a Zimbabwean man, known only as Shaun, who was thought to have fired the bullet that killed Krishanlal.
Independent Police Investigative Directorate officers arrested Dladla on Wednesday, soon after he reported for work.
He was charged with murder and defeating the ends of justice.
He appeared in the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court and was released on a warning. He will appear again on March 6.
“That man (Shaun) was a criminal and he deserved what he got,” Krishanlal’s wife, Semmie, said yesterday. “He killed my husband. I don’t think the pain of losing him will ever go away,” she wept.
Semmie was adamant Dladla was not deserving of the charges against him.
“He was simply performing his duties; he saw an officer down and he reacted,” she said.
Another policeman, Jerome Ngoma, was also shot during the exchange of fire. He has recovered.
He was quoted as saying it worried him to hear of the investigation. “Sometimes you have to make a decision in a split second,” he said, “You can’t stop and think about what the directorate will do.”
The Mercury