Durban - A crime analyst said whoever killed Kalvin Periasamy after he exited a gym at the Gateway Shopping Mall, had been tracking his movements
Periasamy, 30, was in the parking lot when he was shot multiple times on the body and head by unknown gunmen at 10am, said KZN police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala.
Periasamy and his brother Kevin are the alleged gang bosses of the Phoenix street gang, the Bloods.
According to security sources, Periasamy was a regular at the Gateway Virgin Active gym and always had an entourage with him. For some reason, he had no entourage when he left the gym on Thursday. While walking towards his car he was shot at close range.
His body lay in a pool of blood while bystanders from the shopping mall looked on stunned. Police had brought a screen to conceal the scene from shoppers.
He was shot near the parking pay point.
A water bottle, presumably Periasamy's, was an arms length away from his body.
According to eyewitnesses who did not want to be named, four Indian males were seen running from the scene of the crime following the shooting.
"Two of them stopped outside the parking and fired shots in the air like they were celebrating," said the source.
Police found a spent bullet cartridge near the parking exit.
Police were tight-lipped on the investigations.
It is unclear if the killers were loitering in the parking lot prior to the shooting or if they received a tip-off that Periasamy was about to leave the gym.
A case of murder has been opened for investigation by Durban North SAPS.
Mary de Haas, the KwaZulu-Natal violence monitor, said the assassination could have stemmed from Periasamy knowing too much and he could implicate other people – possibly police members. She said shooting a person in the head at close range is execution, so someone or some people wanted to make sure he didn’t talk
"Drugs went missing from Phoenix station not that long ago. Whatever the motive there seems little doubt that it was a targeted hit and drug dealers, like taxi warlords, can easily organise hits. That brings us back to why it is so easy to organise a hit man yet the police don’t seem to know about it. And, obviously, his movements were being tracked. Yet another indictment of the serious failure of crime intelligence in this province to do its work," de Haas said.
Periasamy had a wife and two children, a 12-year-old daughter and 7-year-old boy.
Periasamy had several businesses in Phoenix. These include a security company, Pawnshop, mini-bus taxis, tow trucks and was allegedly involved in the sale of narcotics.
He also faced a raft of drug-related charges for which he was still awaiting trial. In January 2018 a beauty parlour and his home was raided by police.
His syndicate is believed to have networks in the drug trade across the country.
During the raid police recovered 80 rock cocaine pieces, 30 mandrax tablets, three bags with cocaine, ecstasy and dagga. The total value of the recovered drugs is R80 000. Cash of R97 000, suspected to be the proceeds of drugs, was also confiscated. Police said one of the brothers assaulted a police officer during the raid and resisted arrest.
Three firearms were also confiscated.
Since the drug bust, Periasamy was only released on bail in February 2019 for the murder of Enver Ramsamy in 2016.
Police are appealing to anyone who might have information about the suspects involved to contact our Crime Stop number on 08600 10111.