[DEBATE] : News from the Eastern Frontier...

[Russell Grinker]

Manhunt on for masked killer gang 

Pensioners and police wounded in paypoint raid 
By LUBABALO NGCUKANA 

A MANHUNT continued last night for a masked gang who shot dead two security
guards and wounded three pensioners and two police officers in a 36-hour
reign of terror in Transkei. Two of the suspected gang members were killed
in a shootout after police had chased the gang into a dense forest. A
massive contingent of police combed the forest near Qumbu for the rest of
the gang and when their search failed tried to burn it down to force out the
suspects - only to be stymied by wet, misty conditions. 

At the time of going to press last night, the fugitives - who are regarded
as very dangerous - were still at large. 
The drama started at Shukunxa paypoint in Qumbu at around 10am on Monday
while old-age pensions were being paid out. 
Four Cash Paymaster Service security guards were assisting the payout when a
white Mazda bakkie drew up with seven masked men - two men in the cab and
five on the back. Their faces were covered with cloth. "They jumped out
wielding rifles and started to fire before instructing everyone to lie
down," said police spokesperson, Superintendent Nondumiso Jafta. Two guards
died in a shootout and three pensioners were wounded before the gang made
off with a "very substantial" amount of money. A quick-thinking hawker
managed to alert police from Qumbu's Sukenkama police station who happened
to be travelling nearby - and they gave chase, As the chase reached the
vicinity of the Ntsohle forest, the gang's driver pulled the bakkie off the
road and the gang fled into the dense thicket. Police pursued them and
backup forces arrived - including a dog unit, helicopter, the organised
crime unit, mounted unit and police from Tsolo and Mthatha. Police Inspector
Dineo Koena said four weapons, a cellphone and a blanket were found in the
forest. 
The find led the police to believe that the gang, apparently professionals,
had been using the area as a hideout. 
Two of the weapons were the deceased security guards' pump-action shotgun
and rifle. At around 4pm there was an exchange of fire between the gang and
the police. Two suspects were killed. Two police also suffered gunshot
wounds and were rushed to Knessie Knight Hospital in Mthatha by helicopter.
Last night, a hospital spokesperson said one of them was in a critical
condition while the other's condition was described as stable. Police units
ringed the forest on Monday night to prevent the thieves escaping. At around
10am yesterday the search was called off but then reinstated, this time with
three helicopters supplying back-up. A thorough search in increasingly misty
conditions was again unsuccessful. Orders then came to burn the thick
indigenous forest if necessary to get at the robbers but attempts to set the
forest alight also failed. Mthatha area police spokesperson, Dineo Koena,
said: "We will not stop searching for them until they are all arrested and
the money recovered." The robbers' vehicle was later recovered near the
forest. Police suspect that it had been stolen. Provincial Commissioner
Mpumelelo Landu condemned the killing of the two security guards and the
wounding of the police officers. "The police will never rest until the
suspects are behind bars," Landu said. He urged the community to assist the
police by supplying any information they thought might be helpful in their
enquiries. The heist follows a spate of armed robberies targeting pay-points
since September 2005: 
l On July 20, 2006 a gang of 17-20 armed robbers held up a pension paypoint
near Viedgesville along the N2 between Qunu and Mthatha, the third attack in
the Eastern Cape in seven days. l On January 10, 2006 a security guard was
shot and seriously wounded and two others suffered minor injuries after a
cash-in-transit heist targeting pension money at Ngqeleni near Port St
Johns. l On September 5, 2005 brazen armed robbers netted R700000 in a
cash-in-transit heist in the Mount Fletcher area. - Additional reporting by
Zine George 
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