Durban - A Westville man was gunned down in front of his young twins in what appears to have been a botched hijacking at the weekend.
The incident took place at around 8pm on Saturday, outside the home of the man, identified as security company director 46-year-old Paresh Bodalia.
By the time The Mercury arrived at the scene on Sunday morning, Bodalia’s wife Monica - who was in the Middle East at the time - was not yet home.
The couple’s 6-year-old twins - a boy and a girl - were with their aunt. Other family and friends had gathered at the house.
Bodalia’s sister, Jessi Mehilal, said he had gone out to collect the children’s nanny and had returned home when he was attacked. Bodalia was highly security conscious and had CCTV cameras installed throughout the house. “The whole thing was captured on video,” she said.
A well-placed source said Bodalia was followed home and it appeared that he knew something was wrong.
When he arrived at the house, he opened the gate but not the garage which leads into the house, his sister said. He was confronted by three men and jumped out of the car.
Bodalia was himself armed, and an exchange of gunfire ensued. He was believed to have been shot in the head. He may have shot one of his attackers, as police discovered an additional pool of blood at the scene.
Neighbours heard the gunshots and police, private security personnel and the local neighbourhood watch teams were at the scene in minutes. They scoured the area but the attackers had escaped.
Emergency services also responded, but Bodalia died at the scene. It appeared his attackers did not take anything.
Bodalia spent time serving in the police after school and then went into private security. He was the director of Powerhouse Security Service at the time of his death.
“He was always there for people when they needed him. But when he needed someone, he was all alone,” Mehilal said on Sunday. She described her brother as generous and kind-hearted. “And he was a big, muscular man,” she said.
The family was reeling and the children were traumatised, she said. “They saw the whole thing.”
Their mother, who works in Saudi Arabia, was en route home.
“I don’t know what to say,” a visibly distraught Mehilal told The Mercury. Incidents of hijacking and robberies were prevalent in the area, she said.
“Paresh would tell us about them every single day.”
She hoped people in the area would be more alert after his murder.
Police spokesman Lieutenant-colonel Thulani Zwane said a case of murder had been opened at Westville police station.
“A 46-year-old man was shot and killed at his premises at Westville at about 8pm,” Zwane said. “It is alleged that he was just entering his property when he was shot by unknown suspects. He died instantly and the suspects fled the scene.”
No arrests habe yet been made and the police were still investigating.
The Mercury