Durban - A police detective was wounded, criminals were arrested and several guns were taken off the streets during separate police operations this weekend.
In uMlazi W-section, Inanda detectives were driving home on Friday when men at the roadside opened fire on them, said police spokesman, Colonel Jay Naicker. A police officer was wounded in the thigh.
“Police found one suspect hiding in the bushes. Two firearms, an AK-47 and a pistol as well as a crowbar, bolt cutter and 31 live rounds of ammunition were found at the scene,” Naicker said.
It is alleged the suspects were at Maweleni, in uMlazi, to commit a business robbery. They had tied up the security guards and taken two cellphone batteries and two handsets. However it appeared they were disturbed.
They fled towards the main road where they saw the police and fired at them. Charges of attempted murder and business robbery are being investigated by the uMlazi SAPS.
In another incident police and the SANDF recovered five unlicensed firearms and arrested two men, aged 61 and 73, in Kranskop on Saturday.
Police acted on a tip-off that a man hired out guns from his homestead in Mphise.
Because of the rough terrain air support was summoned to help police. The police recovered two 303 rifles with six live rounds, one G3 rifle with three live rounds, one 308 with five live rounds and one 9mm pistol with six live rounds.
The men were to appear in the Kranskop Magistrate’s Court on Monday on charges of possession of unlicensed firearms.
The Scottburgh SAPS arrested a suspect, 28, involved in an attempted theft of a motor vehicle, house robbery and rape. The suspect attacked a 91-year-old man and his 53-year-old disabled daughter at their Park Rynie home.
The suspect was arrested at a tavern in Park Rynie.
A cellphone and other items, allegedly stolen during the robbery, were recovered. He was to appear in the Scottburgh Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
Meanwhile, police hunting for two suspects involved in a house robbery in Park Rynie arrested a man in a shack on Oceanic Grove, Park Rynie.
A 9mm pistol was recovered. A TV that had been stolen and sold to a foreigner was recovered by investigators.
The foreigner, charged with receiving stolen property, paid an admission of guilt fine. The arrested suspect will appear in the Scottburgh Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
In another incident two men, aged 21 and 23, were to appear in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Monday charged with stealing items from an SABC film crew’s car parked in Durban’s Mahatma Gandhi (Point) Road area.
Naicker said the crew were filming when they saw the men break into their car, and take a bag.
Police were notified and they arrested the suspects in the area. The men then led police to the stolen goods, which were recovered. They were charged with theft out of a motor vehicle.
Daily News