Police gave chase after a Durban pension pay point was robbed, arresting three suspects after a gun battle in which one was wounded.
|||Durban - Three men were arrested on Friday after an armed robbery in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal police said.
A 10-man gang attacked security guards dispensing cash at a pension pay-out point at 9.15am, said Colonel Jay Naicker.
“One security guard was shot and injured, and the suspects took an undisclosed amount of cash and fled on foot to a... bakkie, which is presumed to be their getaway vehicle,” he said.
Police, responding to the robbery, saw the bakkie and gave chase, returning fire when the robbers shot at them.
The robbers then abandoned the car and got into a minibus taxi.
“The police continued pursuing the robbers (who were) in the... minibus taxi, and the gun battle between the police and robbers continued,” said Naicker.
The taxi stopped and two men got out and opened fire on the police with automatic weapons.
Police returned fire and arrested both men. One of them was wounded. The other was unharmed.
The police seized two rifles, an Uzi submachine gun and a money box. They also confiscated the bakkie and another car believed to have been used in the robbery.
They continued pursuing the minibus taxi, which was stopped in Shongweni.
“The driver was arrested in Shongweni and was found in possession of a shotgun,” Naicker said.
“The police recovered some of the money boxes inside the (minibus taxi). The security guard shot by the robbers was airlifted to hospital in a critical condition.”
Naicker said it was later established that the bakkie used by the robbers was reported stolen in Phoenix earlier in the week.
He said the firearms seized would be sent for ballistics testing to determine whether they had been used to commit any other crimes.
The wounded robber was under police guard in hospital.
He and the other two men arrested would be charged with robbery with aggravating circumstances, attempted murder, possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition, and theft of a motor vehicle.
They were expected to appear soon in the Mpumalanga Magistrate's Court. - Sapa