King Williams Town - Three police officers will appear in the Dutywa Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday on charges of kidnapping after they allegedly abducted a man from his home, Eastern Cape police said.
Spokesperson Brigadier Marinda Mills said: “The arrests and court appearance of the two constables and a sergeant from Mthatha SAPS relates to an incident on 14 May 2015 when the three police officials, wearing uniform and driving in a marked police vehicle, approached the complainant, Fikile Zikithi of Machibini Admin Area in Dutywa.”
“They allegedly searched his house, indicating that they were following up on information relating to illegal firearms.”
The three men were accompanied by another man, Vukile Ngcukwa, who posed as their “commander”, dressed in civilian clothes and he was driving his private VW Polo at the time, Mills said.
“When the so-called “search” was completed, they forced the complainant into the VW Polo in order for him to accompany them to Mthatha, where he would be required to draw a large amount of money from his account with his bank cards.”
Mills said that somebody alerted the Mthatha police to what had happened at the complainant’s house, and officers began searching for the VW Polo.
“Not long after the incident was reported, they spotted the vehicle and arrested Vukile Ngcukwa in Mthatha and set the complainant free.”
Ngcukwa is not a member of the SAPS and has already appeared in court on a charge of kidnapping, and was released on R1000 bail and will appear in court again on July 25, 2015.
The three police officials were arrested on June 29, 2015 and will also appear on charges of kidnapping.
ANA