The murder of a well-known Mobeni Heights resident in a hijacking at a petrol garage at the weekend has rocked the once elite Chatsworth suburb, which has been experiencing a recent crime wave.
It was the fourth time Jugdeesh ‘Juggie’ Ranchhod, 59, a sales representative, had been hijacked, but tragically, this time it proved to be fatal.
The father of two was accosted by four armed men at the BP garage in Mobeni Heights Drive on Friday night. He was shot once in the neck and the hijackers fled in his VW Citi Golf.
The gunmen were both “casual” and “callous”, said a nearby resident.
“I was getting ready to bath when I heard the gunshot,” said the woman, whose name is being withheld for her own safety.
“I went to my window to see what had happened. I saw two men remove Juggie’s body from his car and place it on the ground. They drove off in the vehicle… the other two accomplices walked away quickly.”
She said she alerted her neighbours, who ran to the scene and tried to assist Ranchhod. But it was too late.
“It was not a good sight. There was blood everywhere. I am still having nightmares about it. I don’t understand why criminals resort to taking an innocent life,” she told POST on Monday.
The resident said crime was a huge problem in the area. “My husband was robbed while walking along the road and just this morning we heard of another incident. We need visible policing in order to feel safe.”
Ranchhod’s family are reeling.
“I cannot describe the feeling I felt when I heard my brother was killed – his wife and two daughters just broke down,” his sister Usha said. “This was the fourth time he was hijacked in the area.”
Usha said her brother would frequent the tote betting agency, which is a few metres from where the shooting took place, and he was attacked there previously but managed to escape.
“Whenever he left home the girls would always tell him to be careful and cautious when driving, and he reassured them that he would return home safely.”
Usha said her brother was the breadwinner of the family and loved shopping and fishing.
“Crime is… out of control in Mobeni Heights. I was also a victim of a hijacking… Police never recovered my vehicle,” she said. “People are getting robbed daily, especially when we have load shedding.”
The murder scene is close to the expanding Lamontville township, and Usha said police needed to do more to prevent crime in the area.
“Police are aware of the hot spot areas and they need to patrol more often… our security companies patrol but police are nowhere to be seen. How many more lives must be lost before something is done?”
Police spokesman Colonel Jay Naicker said Bayview police were investigating a case of murder and carjacking, but no arrests had been made.
Mobeni Heights Safety and Security Forum chairman Denzil Davan urged residents to be vigilant at all times.