Cop vs cop in a bungle over probe

Cop vs cop in a bungle over probe
October 5 2011 at 09:32am

ANGELIQUE SERRAO

IT WAS cops versus cops when Joburg police arrested four commercial crime unit (CCU) colleagues in the Joburg city centre – and the CCU officers laid a counter-charge against them for the obstruction of justice.

Unsurprisingly, the case is still unresolved.

It all started when members of the CCU raided a shop in the Joburg city centre that they suspected was storing R10 million worth of stolen electronic goods. A short while later, other police officers came in and arrested them.

The four men from the CCU were held for 10 hours at Joburg Central police station before being charged with intimidation and trespassing.

They were released, but their firearms were confiscated.

They then laid a counter-charge against their arresting officers for the obstruction of justice.

The only people who have apparently been let off the hook are the suspects who own the electronic goods store in Jeppe Street.

The attorney representing the four CCU policemen, Mohammed Ismail, from Saleem Ebrahim Attorneys, said the officers had not appeared in court.

Ismail said it had to be asked whether corruption and pay-offs were involved.

The four police officers were investigating Bangladeshi shop owners after a container filled with LCD TV sets was stolen on its way from Durban.

They believed they had traced the goods to the shop and chose Saturday, at about 4pm, to go and have a look.

Ismail said the officers first went to the owner and asked him to come to their office so that they could organise to go with him into his store. After two days of waiting, three of them went into the store and found two large storerooms at the back filled with electronic goods.

The wife of the owner was there with employees, and she opened for the officers.

“My client says the storeroom was full. Behind cardboard boxes was a whole wall filled with LCD TVs,” said Ismail. They called another member to bring a camera so that they could start cataloguing the equipment.

The suspect gave them documentation as proof of ownership, but Ismail said his clients believed the documents were fraudulent.

Just as the camera was delivered, police officers from Joburg central arrived and arrested the officers.

“A Colonel Lumbatha arrived, speaking on a cellphone to a general who she said had ordered their arrest. She had been off duty but the ‘general’ had called and told her to arrest the officers,” Ismail said.

“Later she changed her story and said someone called Prince from Luthuli House (ANC headquarters) had ordered the arrest.”

The CCU officers tried to explain they were police officers working on a case, but the colonel wouldn’t listen, and she took the documents and handed them back to the suspect.

The four men were kept at the police station until 2am, when they were charged and told they were free to go – without their firearms.

One of the officers asked Ismail:

“Is this a cover-up? Or was an impersonator calling the colonel ordering the arrest? The whole procedure was unlawful.”

Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini confirmed that an arrest was made. He said a police officer from the CCU, a reservist and two civilians were taken for questioning after “the sector members from Johannesburg Central received a complaint of an alleged robbery”.

“After questioning them it was established that they were busy with an investigation and later released, although three firearms were taken from them.”

He confirmed a case of intimidation and trespassing was being investigated as well as the counter-charges against the arresting officers. He said the charges were laid because the shop owners had laid a complaint against the four men.

“Once the investigation has been finalised, the cases will be discussed with a prosecutor for a decision. Officers did not receive any instructions from the provincial commissioner but were attending to a complaint.”
( The Star)