Kimberley - Two separate hijackings, one in Kimberley and the other in Warrenton, took place within hours of each other on Monday and left Northern Cape police hunting for three suspects who made off with a truckload of cigarettes.
While the suspects fled the scene of the first incident at a mall in Kimberley empty-handed, a second hijacking in Warrenton, less than four hours later, resulted in the theft of cigarettes valued at thousands of rands.
The first attempted hijacking occurred shortly before 10am on Monday when a driver from British American Tobacco (BAT) was making a delivery at Game at the North Cape Mall.
It is believed that the driver had just got out of the truck at the service entry to the mall when he was approached from behind by an armed gunman.
A witness on the scene said that he looked on as the driver and his passenger were forced into a VW Polo, leaving the delivery truck unattended.
“It all happened so quickly that it did not seem real,” the witness said. “I was terrified and didn’t want to bring any attention to myself out of fear for my safety. I saw the man with the gun but decided to keep my distance.”
Police spokeswoman, Major Dimakatso Mooi, said that the victims were later released near the stone crushers on the N12 once the suspects realised that neither of the victims had the keys to unlock the delivery truck.
“The police in Kimberley are investigating a case of attempted hijacking after two people were forced out of the vehicle they were using to transport cigarettes at the North Cape Mall,” Mooi said.
“It is alleged that the victims had just finished delivering the cigarettes when they were accosted at gun point by three men.
“They were forced out of their vehicle into a white VW Polo, which drove off and left them on the side of the road on the way to Ritchie.
“The victims managed to hike back to the scene and alerted the police.”
The second incident occurred in Warrenton around lunchtime when another truck, also transporting cigarettes, was targeted.
During this incident the suspects made off with merchandise with an undisclosed value.
A source close to the investigation said that the contents of the second delivery vehicle were cleared out and loaded into a VW Vito before the suspects fled the scene, abandoning the hijacked truck near an informal settlement.
One of the boxes apparently contains a tracker and police were on Monday waiting for this device to be activated in the hope of tracking down the suspects.
Mooi also confirmed the second incident, adding that the suspects were still at large.
“Police in Warrenton are investigating a case of hijacking after a man was forced out of the vehicle he was using to transport cigarettes to a store in Warrenton,” Mooi said.
“It is alleged that the victim was delivering cigarettes when he was accosted at gun point by an unknown man who ordered him to lie down.
“The man ordered the victim to look in another direction as the cigarettes were off loaded.”
DFA
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