The three men linked to the armed robbery and murder of Shallcross father, Vasu Ravi Chetty, who died from stab wounds to the chest after he and his wife were bound with cable-ties during a home invasion, were denied bail when they appeared in the Chatsworth Magistrate’s Court on Friday.
Two of the accused, Sibusiso Nzama, 36, an engineer by profession, and 36-year-old David Anele Tshambo, a taxi driver, pleaded “not guilty” on charges of murder and robbery with aggravated circumstances, while the third accused, Phatokuhle Buhle Dube, a 22-year-old mechanical engineering student from Savannah Park, proposed to remain silent and not plead.
Appearing before Magistrate Zuma, the three accused were represented by Legal Aid attorney, Siyabonga Zondi, who said Dube, a father of one, had no previous convictions or no pending cases, and handed himself over to police after he found out that he was a suspect in the murder and armed robbery case.
Public prosecutor, Ms N Gumede, said Nzama, the breadwinner who provides for his two children and grandmother, was arrested at the Durban High Court after appearing for another case of armed robbery last week.
Nzama is also suspected of posing as a client and robbing an attorney in Silverglen. Tshambo, in his affidavit produced during the bail application, said he was the breadwinner; primary caregiver to his elderly mother. He has a previous conviction for a house break-in, in 2002, and was arrested at his home in Savannah Park, last week.
The trio are believed to be the culprits behind the recent spate of robberies and a murder in the Shallcross area in recent months and were apprehended by investigators from Chatsworth Police Serious and Violent Crimes Unit, together with the KZN Provincial Crime Intelligence Unit.
They were charged for murder, armed robbery and contravening the Firearms Control Act 60 of 2000 following the murder of Chetty, who was allegedly accosted by armed robbers, who pounced on him after they jumped over the boundary fence of his home and attacked him on 26 August. He died from stab wounds.
Communications officer of Chatsworth SAPS, Captain Cheryl Pillay, said in initial reports that investigators worked around the clock and recovered a Silver Mercedes-Benz and household items in Marrianridge.
Thereafter, the detectives proceeded to Molweni where they further seized six flat-screen televisions, laptops, tyre rims and various household items.
She said police also seized a licensed 38 special revolver which belonged to the suspect’s deceased family member. During the robbery on 26 August, Chetty and his wife were accosted by the suspects who tied them with cable-ties. The husband sadly demised at the scene after being stabbed by the suspects. The suspects fled the scene with two vehicles and household items.
On 21 October, the suspects accosted another family in Peak Street in Shallcross with the same modus operandi. A 72-year old pensioner together with her son where tied up, thereafter placed in the bathroom. The suspects fled with two motor vehicles and household items. The trio were remanded into police custody and are due to re-appear in court at the end of November.
