Tsakane SAPS has made some progress into the hijacking syndicate that has been terrorising the communities of Ekurhuleni East.
This comes after three men were arrested in Tsakane for possession of hijacked vehicles on July 29.
The suspects were arrested after the police and a vehicle tracking company followed a tracking signal to where a hijacked Nissan Hardbody was concealed.
The men were cornered as they arrived at the residence in Tsakane Extension 19.
Further investigation led to the recovery of two more vehicles suspected to have been hijacked in the same area.
During the raid, the police also recovered eight cellphones belonging to different people, most of them from the Mpumalanga area.
In two other incidents, a man was fatally wounded when the community refused to back down when they chased him after he attempted to hijack a vehicle in Langaville Ext Six in Tsakane. The man fired gunshots indiscriminately into the pursuing community members.
Another hijacking was foiled in Duduza when two suspected hijackers were stopped in their attempt to take a vehicle. They fled and left firearms and cellphones as police patrolled the area.
The areas of Kwatsaduza and Ekurhuleni East, in general, have been experiencing a sharp increase in the hijacking of vehicles, and in some instances, vehicles were taken to as far as Mpumalanga and recovered in the said area.
Speaking after the successes, the Tsakane SAPS station commander, Col Goodwill Mbatha, said it was too early to celebrate the arrests; however, the police remain focused and are hot on the heels of the rest of the groups of hijackers operating in and between Ekurhuleni East and Mpumalanga and will win the fight against hijackings.
All arrested suspects are expected to appear in different magistrate’s courts during the week.
