Most-wanted criminal arrested

"Detectives and members of the Inanda Tactical Response Team were following intelligence of his whereabouts at Bester area, Ntuzuma," Colonel Jay Naicker said in a statement.

 

Wanted for a number of crimes he allegedly committed in the province, he was arrested on Friday.

 

Naicker said their information indicated the man was in the area in a black VW Golf. Two occupants were seen in the car and shot at the police as they approached the vehicle.

 

A police officer was shot and wounded in the leg and a bystander was shot and wounded in the back. 

 

One of the occupants surrendered to police and was arrested. "The second suspect fled and disappeared in the nearby informal dwellings."

 

An AK-47 rifle believed to have been used during robberies was found in the car. Police continued searching for the second man and he was found hiding in one of the informal houses.

 

"The suspect was one of the most wanted men in KZN who was linked to cash-in-transit heists and armed robberies at Spar supermarkets in the province," Naicker said.

 

Both men were expected to appear in the Ntuzuma Magistrate's Court on Tuesday on charges of possession of an unlicensed firearm and attempted murder.

 

-Sapa