Swift police investigations have led to the arrest of 12 suspects in connection with the murders of five people who were butchered to death at two sports fields at Bombay in Inanda on Friday, 17 January.
A bus passenger travelling along Curnick Ndlovu Highway contacted the Reaction Unit South Africa (RUSA) operations centre and informed the controller on duty that he had seen the bodies of three men on a sports field next to Inanda Newtown Comprehensive High School. The caller could not provide any further details.
Spokesperson for RUSA, Prem Balram said: “Reaction officers, paramedics and police converged on the scene and found the bodies of the three men at the centre of a sports grounds.”
According to Balram, the bodies had been hacked to death. One of the men sustained a partial amputation to his right hand and a second individuals’ skull was crushed.
Information was received that there could be more bodies in the area, officers walked the surrounding field and discovered two more victims also hacked to death.
Balram said: “RUSA Members interviewed several individuals at the scene who alleged that the five males were known robbers and drug users who were terrorising the community. They were also allegedly responsible for raping multiple female scholars.”
Spokesperson for the SAPS in KZN, Colonel Robert Netshiunda said: “Information at police’s disposal at this stage suggests that the victims, aged between 19 and 26 years old, were allegedly kidnapped from their homes in Bambayi around midnight and their bodies were only discovered just after 6.30am in the morning with multiple injuries. One victim had his one arm chopped off. “
Following the arrests Netshiunda said: “The suspects are believed to be members of a certain forum in the community and more arrests cannot be ruled out.”
