Johannesburg - Provincial police say a car that residents believe to have been used in several armed robberies in and around Linden has been linked to only one incident – in Parkview.
This is despite film footage that appears to place the vehicle at two separate incidents on the same day. Linden residents claim it was used in a third robbery, not captured on camera.
The Linden Neighbourhood Watch has footage showing a group of five men about to rob a Linden home on December 21. They stormed through the open gate and ransacked the house, fleeing minutes later in their silver BMW 3 series.
Cameras in the area show the 3 Series leaving the suburb.
However, separate images from a dashboard camera in a patrol car in Parkview show what appears to be the same vehicle at a shooting incident in that suburb in which a security guard is shot and killed, soon after the Linden robbery.
The neighbourhood watch operations manager, Fareed Hoosen, has claimed that a silver BMW 3 Series was involved in three robberies on December 21 and a fourth on January 5.
He said he believed that a gang were targeting surrounding suburbs.
But provincial police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Katlego Mogale said the car had been linked to a robbery in Parkview, and that investigators were not in possession of the CCTV footage seen by the The Star.
“The two incidents that are being mentioned which happened in Linden, the vehicles used in the robberies are different ones, according to the statements of the complainants,” said Mogale.
Hoosen said the footage would be handed over to the investigating officers to prove that the same car was used in the Linden incidents.
Since The Star published the images of the gang and their vehicle on Tuesday, Ahmed Bulbulia, of Northcliff Ext 25, has come forward to say he believes he was targeted by the same men, using the same modus operandi.
He said five men in a silver BMW had stormed him on December 1 while his gate was open. His house was cleared of valuables while he and his family were told to remain on the ground.
He was taken to an ATM to draw money before the criminals fled in the BMW and his family’s car.
A number of armed robberies involving luxury vehicles have been reported over the past few months.
Talk Radio 702 presenter David O’Sullivan was recently attacked in his home by robbers driving a Jaguar.
Institute for Security Studies head Johan Burger said it appeared as though such robberies were becoming a trend.
The Star