CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA - SEPTEMBER 18: The scene outside the Bishop Lavis home of high profile police investigator Colonel Charl Kinnear who was gunned down in his car shortly after 3 pm on September 18, 2020 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Gallo Images/Brenton Geach)
Lieutenant-Colonel Charl Kinnear, a detective who was assassinated in front of his house in Cape Town on 18 September, was allegedly on the brink of cracking a huge case, according to a media report.
The case was about a “guns to gangs” syndicate and involved the police’s Central Firearms Registry (CFR).
According to the Sunday Times, the investigation by Kinnear, which had defeated many other detectives, was a threat to the criminal underworld and a corrupt police network.
The newspaper quoted two different experts monitoring the influx of firearms flooding the underground world.
According to the report, the possibility of a link between Kinnear’s assassination and the CFR investigation quickly became the main line of inquiry for detectives in trying to solve their colleague’s murder.
Arrest
On Thursday, police arrested a 39-year-old man in connection with the murder of Kinnear.
The man, who appeared in the Bishop Lavis Magistrate’s Court on Friday, is former professional rugby player Zane Kilian.
Kilian was charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder and the illegal interception of communications.
The latter charge is believed to be linked to the tracking of Kinnear’s cellphone.
The Sunday Times further reported that Kilian, who lives in Gauteng, was a debt collector for alleged underworld boss, Nafiz Modack.
The anti-gang unit, which Kinnear was a part of, was allegedly investigating Modack – and it had resulted in his arrest on gun-related fraud charges earlier this year.
Modack was one of 16 people arrested, which included police officers.
News24 reported that police were investigating fraud and corruption relating to firearm licence applications.
Modack, who responded to the Sunday Times, told News24 that, although Kilian collected debts on his behalf, he had no relationship with the man.
Modack added that he had nothing to gain from Kinnear’s death.
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