Durban - Durban socialite and convicted killer Rajiv Narandas was arrested on Thursday in Durban by Gauteng police after failing to report to prison five days ago to start serving his 15-year sentence.
While police confirmed on Thursday that Narandas was in custody, it’s not clear where he has been for the past five days.
The Mercury’s sister newspaper The Post reported on Wednesday that Narandas had not been on the run but had been at home with his mother, Rosanne.
A source close to the case confirmed that Narandas had handed himself over at the Westvillle police station but this could not be confirmed with the police.
Gauteng police spokesman Colonel Noxolo Kweza said Narandas had been arrested by the investigating officer in Durban.
She did not know why Narandas had failed to hand himself over earlier to start serving his sentence last week.
“We are still waiting for the investigating officer. We will find out today why he failed to hand himself over,” she said.
A source said Narandas was expected to appear in a Joburg court on Friday regarding his transfer to Westville Prison to serve his sentence.
Narandas was meant to report to Correctional Services last Thursday to start serving his 15-year sentence for murder but he failed to do so and a warrant for his arrest was to be issued on Friday.
The Mercury had been told by the NPA that Narandas was to report to Westville Prison, but this has since proved to be incorrect. Hence he was being taken to Johannesburg.
Last Thursday, Narandas’s mother Rosanne told The Mercury that Narandas had undergone an operation related to “ulcers and hernias”.
He had to report to prison after the Constitutional Court ruled that his application for leave to appeal against his conviction and sentence had no chance of success.
Narandas was convicted of the murder of Veenand Singh outside a Sandton nightclub in 2008.
Singh was stabbed, in front of his fiancee Bashantha Sannasy, during an argument with Narandas and his friends.
For the past five days, the police, the National Prosecuting Authority and the Correctional Services department could not confirm his whereabouts and there were suggestions that he had fled.
The authorities’ lack of information and bizarre WhatsApp status messages from Rosanne compounded the confusion.
Rosanne posted on Sunday night, “Don’t cry for me, I’m in Argentina”, in apparent reference to an allegation that Narandas had planned to flee to the South American country.
On Thursday morning she changed her WhatsApp status to, “Yes I have seen him. He is in the kitchen with me.”
Her profile picture showed her with a Mercury street poster worded “Have you seen him?”, standing next to her grinning son.
On Thursday Singh’s fiance Bashantha Sannasy said she had been informed about Narandas’s arrest by the investigating officer at midday.
“He has been keeping in contact with me and he told me that he had Narandas in custody and would be taking him to Johannesburg.
“The investigating officer has been exceptional for the past eight years in the handling of the case, and worked hard in order to get Narandas to start serving his sentence,” she said.
Sannasy said she had asked the authorities about the confusion regarding Narandas’s failure to report to prison authorities to start serving his sentence and had been told that Narandas had reported to police that he had been “too ill” and had been recuperating at his Westville home with his mother.
Sannasy said she was told Narandas was not supposed to report at Westville prison and would have to serve his sentence in Johannesburg unless he applied for a transfer.
“I just hope this matter is now over and the family and I can move on and find closure,” she said.
The Mercury