DIS boss pleads ignorance to abduction

MONKAGEDI GAOTLHOBOGWE
Staff Writer | Friday April 16, 2010 00:00

 

In an interview with Mmegi, the DIS boss yesterday claimed his officers had told him that the youngster, was seen at a crime scene where a certain white man was robbed of cash by people claiming to be DIS agents that same day. ' I am told some were ambushed yesterday (Wednesday) because they tried to rob a white man.

According to Kgosi, he was informed that the boy was pounced upon and searched at the scene of the crime, then released within five minutes. At least that is what one officer told Kgosi as Mmegi listened to their conversation when their call was put on hold.

This same officer informed Kgosi that they found US3, and some P285 in the pockets of the victim, Elias Ramogerika, as well as a laptop, but denied finding more cash. Ramogerika claims he lost P56,000.

When Mmegi brought it to the attention of the DIS director that the victim was not released by the officers until after 9pm, he sounded surprised.

Kgosi says his juniors told him that when the victim's colleagues arrived at the premises looking for the DIS boss, they were told to wait for him but they decided to go away before he could attend to their complaints.

However Ramogerika's colleagues, among them chief auctioneer Senki Sesinyi told Mmegi that when they tried to see the DIS boss, a certain officer by the name of Thebe was introduced to them and he behaved as if he was the boss.

Kgosi admitted that he does indeed have an officer by that name but insisted that the complainants should have been patient enough to wait for him (Kgosi).

However the DIS director promised to follow the matter up with the aggrieved parties since there are conflicting reports. ' I hope like you are saying, they have reported the matter to the police so that independent investigations, if necessary, can be undertaken', Kgosi said yesterday.

Interestingly the latest report about robbery of innocent victims by the DIS comes at a time when the DIS is claiming that there are many fraudsters robbing people in the name of the DIS.

Kgosi says to date about 15 cases of that nature have been reported, with people being robbed of between P1,500-P25,000 at a time. He claimed that some of the perpetrators of this new crime are foreigners, and that six victims have been identified so far.

Kgosi also claimed that some fraudsters were apprehended on Wednesday after taking P15,000 from a factory in Gaborone, claiming to be DIS agents. He did not identify the factory in question.