Rajbansi jun's alibi probed

2003-12-01 07:59

Dries Liebenberg

Durban - The alibi of veteran politician Amichand Rajbansi's son is being investigated by the police after the man's former wife was found strangled in her flat in Durban this weekend.

Vimal Rajbansi, son of the Minority Front leader, was allegedly the last person his ex-wife Karnagie Tandree, 32, saw before the murder. He was apparently at her Berea flat at 19:00 on Saturday, but Tandree did not allow him in.

Tandree's fully-dressed body was found on her bed about seven hours later when her sister's husband went to check on her at 01:40, police spokesperson Inspector Michael Read said.

Tandree was dressed in the same clothes she was wearing the previous evening.

According to Read, there was no sign of forced entry to the flat, nothing has been reported missing and there was no sign of a scuffle.

A nylon string, which was apparently used to strangle Tandree, was found at the crime scene.

A police official said Tandree's brother-in-law went to investigate after her family could not contact her on the phone.

Tandree was sharing the flat with her mother after she divorced Vimal Rajbansi two months ago. Her mother and nine-year-old son were not at home on Saturday.

Rajbansi junior's alibi for the rest of Saturday evening after his visit to his ex-wife is now being checked by the members of the police Serious and Violent Crime unit.

A team of forensic experts have been called from Pretoria to comb the flat for clues.

The investigation is at a very sensitive stage, Read said.

Rajbansi jun is the only son of the marriage of his politician father and Asha Devi, a newspaper columnist, who were divorced in 2000.

Unlike his four sisters, Rajbansi jun did not attend his father's glamorous wedding with MF MPL Shameen Thakur.

- Beeld