Top cop killed in ambush

2008-08-27 19:02

Durban - A senior police officer was shot dead near Stanger in what is believed to have been a deliberate ambush targeting the officer, police said.

Superintendent Vincent Mdunge said the officer was following a convoy of prisoners being escorted to Stanger for trial when the convoy was ambushed.

The victim was the station commissioner for the Kranskop police station, who also headed the province's taxi violence unit.

Mdunge said the prison transport vehicle as well as another police vehicle were allowed to pass before the gunmen opened fire on the station commissioner's car, killing him.

A shootout ensued and another policeman was critically wounded while one of the attackers was killed.

The wounded policeman was airlifted to a Durban hospital. Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha said he sustained multiple gunshot and shrapnel wounds to the leg.

Eliminated big taxi hitmen

It was not known how many attackers there were. The spent cartridges of AK47 assault rifles were found at the scene.

The station commissioner had been investigating taxi violence in the Maphumulo area, which is midway between Kranskop and Stanger.

He had a string of successes in his investigations, and one source said he was "eliminating the big taxi hitmen from the scene".

Most recently, according to a source, the work of the station commissioner had led to the arrest of a number of suspects in a case where a member of the police's Empangeni dog unit, Inspector Wayne Saunders, was killed.

Nonkululeko Mbatha, spokesperson for safety and security MEC Bheki Cele, said Cele would be issuing a statement shortly.

- SAPA