'Bomb suppliers' in court
2008-08-29 12:39
Barberton - Four men suspected of providing explosives to ATM bombers appeared in the Barberton magistrate's court on Thursday.
The suspects were arrested at a house in Mjindini township outside Barberton at midday on Tuesday where police confiscated enough explosives and igniter cords to bomb about 1 000 ATMs.
"We believe that the men were distributing the explosives to ATM bombers in Mpumalanga," said spokesperson for Mpumalanga's organised crime unit, Captain Leonard Hlathi, on Thursday.
He said police had received a tip-off about a plan to bomb ATM in Mpumalanga, as well as neighbouring provinces.
"We also recovered R80 000 worth of gold dust, one Tokaref automatic pistol, an Uzzi rifle and 500 sticks of dynamite in the same house during the arrest," said Hlathi.
He said police would investigate the origins of the explosives.
The suspects, Duiker Skhumbuzo Masinga, 24, Peter Shivhambo, 23, Elija Muzi Mhlongo, 19, and Mathews Louis Maraka, 37 were not asked to plead to charges of possession of explosives.
They were remanded in custody until September 4 for further investigation.
Meanwhile, no arrests have been made in connection with an ATM bombing in Matsulu near Nelspruit last week.
A Standard Bank ATM was bombed at about 02:00 on August 17 and more than R200 000 in cash was recovered by police on the scene.
The robbers fled empty-handed when they were disturbed by security guards and police who were on patrol nearby.