POLOKWANE – In a statement released, Police Spokesperson, Col Moatshe Ngoepe said meticulous investigations, conducted by the Saps Provincial Team of detectives led by Captain Richard Boshomane, led to the arrest of a 26-year-old man, for the murder of Somali businessman, Mahomed Abdullah Hassan.
The suspect was arrested on Thursday, 2 May following a chain of events that commenced after the deceased allegedly gave the suspect a lift at Kalkspruit in the Mashashane area outside Polokwane on 24 June 2018. The same day he was reported missing.
Read more: 3 suspects arrested in connection with burnt Polokwane woman’s murder
Ngoepe explained: “It is alleged the deceased, who was renting a shop in the area, was driving to Polokwane to buy the stock, when he noticed the suspect on the side of the road hitch-hiking. It is understood the suspect was a former employee and unaware of the suspect’s intentions, the deceased stopped and gave him a lift. Along the way, at a place called Newlands, the suspect then attempted to strangle the deceased and during the struggle, the deceased was stabbed him to death.”
“It is further alleged the suspect thereafter took money in the deceased possession and drove the vehicle onto the N11 road next to Mapela village in the Mahwelereng Cluster, where he removed the body of the deceased, doused it with inflammable substance and burned it.”
Read more: Two suspects arrested in Polokwane in connection with Marks Rambau’s murder
On 24 April, members of this investigation team received an information about a vehicle, similar to the one belonging to the deceased, parked at Extension 44 in Polokwane and reacted accordingly. “The vehicle was recovered and positively identified as that of the deceased businessman. The driver was immediately arrested, but later it came to light that he had bought the vehicle from someone else. After a thorough follow up, the 26-year-old suspect was then arrested and successfully linked to the gruesome incident,” he added.
The suspect on Thursday, 16 May appeared for the second time in Polokwane Magistrate Court on charges of murder and robbery, where his case was postponed to 27 May for formal bail application and for further police investigations, Ngoepe concluded.
