THREE ARMED ROBBERS  ARRESTED

By Joey Wa Rabapane | May 23, 2023 | 03h30

GA-MAKGOBA | A joint snap operation  conducted by the police and private security companies  led to the arrest of three suspects aged between 30 and 37 who committed armed robbery along the R81 public road at Ga-Makgoba village on Tuesday.

According to police report, the suspects who were driving in a Toyota Fortuner and Fiat Palio forcibly stopped a white  Courier Company Toyota Hilux bakkie and robbed it at gunpoint along the  Polokwane-Giyani road.

“The suspects got away with various electronic equipment parcels. The incident was immediately reported to the police who  operationalized on the information and started to track down the armed suspects who were seen driving along the R71 public road near Mamahule,  outside Nobody, Ga-mothiba and Mankweng”, said Colonel Malesela Ledwaba of Limpopo Police.

He further mentioned that the police ultimately managed to identify and stop the suspects driving in a Fiat Palio near Mamahule village . The suspects alighted from the vehicle and started to shoot at the police in an attempt to evade arrest. The police returned fire which resulted in one suspects  getting seriously injured while two were arrested without injuries.

“The police recovered several boxes of electrical appliances including cellphones, lights, mini UPS, outdoor speakers, laptops and  confiscated three unlicensed firearms with ammunition and one magazine”, he added.

The other vehicle, a Toyota Fortuner was found abondoned in  Mankweng and the suspects were nowhere to be found. Preliminary investigations revealed that the vehicle was reportedly hijacked earlier this month in Moletlane Policing Area.

“The Two suspects are expected to appear before Polokwane Magistrate court soon facing charges of possession of prohibited firearms and ammunition, possession of suspected stolen goods, armed robbery and attempted murder while the third is still admitted in hospital under police guard and will appear in court soon after recovering from his injuries”, he concluded.