52 held for Gauteng robberies
2006-10-31 13:31
Johannesburg - Fifty-two Zimbabweans were arrested in the past two weeks in connection with armed robberies in Gauteng, police said on Tuesday.
Superintendent Fanie Molapo of the Special Investigations Unit said most of the robbers targeted Pick 'n Pay and Spar supermarkets.
On Saturday, a Zimbabwean was killed and two of his countrymen were wounded in an exchange of fire with police in Diepsloot, north west of Johannesburg.
The men were suspected of robbing a bank and a filling station in Johannesburg earlier that day. "We received a tip-off that the suspects were at a certain house in Diepsloot."
On Sunday, six Zimbabweans were arrested after a foiled robbery at a Wimpy restaurant at The Glen Mall in the south of Johannesburg.
"The restaurant had been robbed a couple of times during busy hours. We received a tip-off that a gang of men was planning to rob it again on Sunday,"
The men were arrested in possession of firearms at the mall.
Molapo said most of the other 44 arrests were made in Hillbrow, near the Johannesburg city centre. In the past two weeks, 19 Pick 'n Pay and Spar supermarkets were robbed in the province he said.
- SAPA