Escaped prisoner recaptured

2009-01-07 15:37

Johannesburg - A 22-year-old man who escaped from police in Mthatha in November was recaptured in Libode village, Eastern Cape police said on Wednesday.

Captain Zamukulungisa Jozana said Inga Vuhlungu of Rainy locality near Libode was arrested at 07:00 on Tuesday.

He was the last to be recaptured of three men who escaped from the Mthatha Magistrate's Court holding cells on November 21 last year.

The men struck a police officer over the head with a blunt object and then took his firearm before fleeing.

Vuhlungu told police he had hidden the stolen firearm under his bed in Rainy. Police recovered the firearm. A case of possession of an unlicensed firearm was opened.

Vuhlungu will appear before the Libode Magistrate's Court on Thursday on a charge of unlawful possession of a firearm. He will be joined by the other two men when they appear on charges of escaping from lawful custody.

He would then face the original charges against him which were rape, house breaking, theft, and assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, said Jozana.

- SAPA