A 33-year-old suspect has been arrested by the South African Police Service following the brutal murder of a former Physical Sciences teacher. Suresh Rajkoomar (64) was fatally gunned down on Impangele Street, Ezakheni Section B, on Tuesday, 28 February.
It is alleged that Rajkoomar had been driving near the Ladysmith Indoor Sports Centre on Tuesday afternoon when he was hijacked by four gunmen who then forced him to drive towards Steadville.
Constable Thenjiswa Ngcobo told The Ladysmith Herald that while one of the suspects was driving, the victim attempted to grab the suspect’s firearm and a shot went off, wounding the suspect in the thigh. “It is alleged that he then shot the victim and robbed him of his bank cards before abandoning the vehicle which was later found in a vacant field,” said Cst Ngcobo, adding that the four suspects then fled the scene of the crime.
However, a few hours later, police managed to arrest one of the suspects. “The suspect will be appearing in court on charges of murder and carjacking. Police are now searching for the remaining suspects who are still at large.”
While police and forensics officials worked on the crime scene, members of the public gathered to watch. Close friends and family members also made their way to the scene and told The Ladysmith Herald that they were not allowed onto the scene as it was still active and police were busy collecting evidence.
The DA in uThukela District said that they are greatly saddened to have heard of the murder of the brother of Democratic Alliance (DA) Alfred Duma Municipal Councillor, Anand Rajkoomar.
“The DA will support the Rajkoomar family as best it can at this difficult time. We ask for the Rajkoomar family to be held in prayer as they deal with this tragedy in their lives. We trust that the police will put their full strength into finding the murderers of not only Mr Rajkoomar but of the many other shooting-related murders in uThukela, especially the Estcourt area which seems to go without the murderers being found and charged,” said DA Head of uThukela Constituency, Alf Lees.
Councillor Anand Rajkoomar, who told The Ladysmith Herald that he never thought something this heartbreaking would ever happen to his brother and family, was visibly shaken when he said: “I have to be strong for my family. I have no other words to express the pain I feel after the sudden, cruel death of my brother. My brother was a great man who had a great mind and loved teaching Physics. I just can’t believe he’s gone.”
Many community members of Ladysmith and people who knew Rajkoomar personally took to social media to express their heartfelt condolences after news broke of the tragedy. “We would like to send our deepest condolences to the family as Suresh was a great man and will be missed,” read one of the posts.
Cllr Rajkoomar said that he will be at the steps of the police station every day until all those involved in the death of his brother are apprehended.
