Security officers kill another man?

TSHIRELETSO MOTLOGELWA
Staff Writer | Wednesday August 5, 2009 00:00

 

'The commissioner of police has ordered investigations into the circumstances that led to the death (of the man),' the statement said.

However, according to facts gathered by Mmegi from sources within the police service, the man was arrested on Thursday last week and detained in a police cell. He had reportedly been arrested by the Serious Crimes Squad who handed him to Mogoditshane Police Station officers. He was suspected of possession of guns allegedly used in a spate of robberies. According to statements from various sources within the security fraternity, either on that day or the next, police officers took the suspect on various rounds of torture attempting to extract a confession statement. It was allegedly during that round of torture that the man died.

On that night, according to reports, the police officers involved took the corpse to Senamakola lands and allegedly dumped it there. One of the witnesses, who has made a statement to the police officers investigating the case, has reportedly indicated that on Friday night he saw a white Nissan van, similar to the ones usually used by police officers on operations, parked at the same spot where he discovered the corpse the next day.

Further evidence seems to link the officers to the corpse.  A dry-cleaner receipt belonging to one of the senior officers in the team was found near the corpse. Secondly, the corpse showed injuries associated with torture on the wrist and ankles.

The man is reported to have been on the police wanted list for various crimes. 'The deceased was wanted by the police for failing to honour bail conditions imposed on him by the Mahalapye Magistrate's Court in an armed robbery case and was also linked to the armed robbery case which occurred at Mmopane,' the police statement.

Meanwhile, reports indicate that the Commissioner of Police has engaged officers from different divisions to investigate the matter. Mmegi has the name of the two officers one from Mochudi and another from Lobatse, who are leading the investigations. Police spokesperson Christopher Mbulawa would not confirm nor deny whether the subject of those investigations is police involvement in the alleged 'murder' of the suspect.

Yesterday a post-mortem was scheduled to be conducted on the body.