Pretoria - A gang of gunmen arrested for the attack on Malamulele police station in Limpopo, did not put up a fight when police arrested them during a surprise raid on Wednesday night, according to SAPS provincial spokesperson Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo.
A group of heavily armed suspects stormed the Community Service Centre at the police station in November, robbed members on duty of firearms and locked them in the back of a police van.
The gang proceeded to steal R4 rifles, pump guns, pistols and ammunition from the safe and left the station after locking the gate and then commited a series of business robberies in the area while evading arrests.
The suspects were arrested in different areas, seven of them in Bolobedu, Limpopo, and three in Bushbuckridge in Mpumalanga, where they had been planning to commit ATM bombings.
They appeared in different magistrate’s courts on Friday and remanded in custody to today for the attack of the police station.
Yesterday, Mojapelo said the suspects were completely surprised during the arrests on Wednesday night. “They didn’t have time to put up a fight despite having been armed with weapons that they stole from the police station.
“The Limpopo special task team caught them while they were sleeping.
The gang of 10, are aged between 30 and 48.
Seven suspects were found in their hideout at Medinyeng Village near Ga-Kgapane, Bolobedu outside Tzaneen.
The other three were arrested at a lodge in the Dwarsloop area outside Bushbuckridge in Mpumalanga.
“The arrests came after information was received about them intending to bomb and ATM in Mpumalanga.
“Preliminary police investigations have positively linked the suspects to several ATM bombings and armed robberies in the province, including the recent incident at a filling station near the Capricorn toll gate along the N1 North under the SAPS Botlokwa policing area, where a police warrant officer was shot and wounded.
They were also positively linked to a police sergeant attached to Botlokwa police station being robbed of his service pistol, R5 rifle and bulletproof vest.”
Mojapelo said among the confiscated items are four R5 rifles, four shotgun rifles, three 9mm pistols, ammunition, police bullet proof vests, explosives, illicit cigarettes, blasting cartridges, balaclavas, security uniforms, cash and shoes.
Pretoria News