Slain in a hail of bullets
Durban killer, gangster on day parole hit in drive-by
APHOENIX murderer and alleged gang leader was gunned down by men in police uniforms moments after leaving a Gauteng prison on daytime parole yesterday.
Captain Joep Joubert, spokesman for the Brakpan police station, said Nithia Chinnasamy, 48, spent nights at Boksburg Prison, where he had been serving a sentence for a murder he had committed in Durban in 1998.
A friend had fetched Chinnasamy from the prison just after 7am.
Joubert said they had stopped at the friend’s house in Silverbush Crescent, Dalpark extension 6.
While the friend was opening the driveway gate, a blue or greyish Renault drove past and fired several shots at the white Toyota Corolla in which Chinnasamy was sitting.
Most of the bullets struck the passenger door and window.
Chinnasamy was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Renault used by the gunmen was found parked at the roadside a few blocks away at the corner of Plumbago and Bottlebrush streets. It had been set alight. “According to witnesses, the men that got out of the Renault were both dressed in police uniforms. Police are investigating if the men were, indeed, police or had worn fake uniforms.
“A case of murder has been opened at Brakpan SAPS,” Joubert said.
Police found 10 spent 9mm shells and eight R-5 rifle shells at the scene.
The news of his murder shocked residents of Phoenix, where Chinnasamy had been a gang kingpin, according to police, until his imprisonment.
He has also been linked to drug dealing, but this was not proven in court.
Chinnasamy and four other members of his gang were convicted in the Durban High Court on November 30, 2006.
They were sentenced to life imprisonment and 10 years for murder, attempted murder and kidnapping of Sagendran “Claude” Arran on June 14, 1998.
In court papers, Chinnasamy said he wanted the deceased to be taught a lesson and instructed his four co-accused to bring him to Rinkgreen Walk, a spot popularly called Nithia’s section, where the group habitually congregated.
They assaulted Arran with a mop handle and burning logs.
They took a hose from a nearby fire hydrant and put it in his mouth and turned the water on. They then pushed a stick into his rectum.
Arran was thrown down an embankment at a nearby school. A second man who was assaulted by the gang survived the attack and crawled to a nearby house for help.
The Chinnasamy family’s phones went unanswered at the time of publication.
But his death stirred debate on the Phoenix Crime Watch Facebook page, with heated exchanges, forcing the page administrators to turn off comments.
By then almost 150 people had commented, both for and against Chinnasamy.
Some remarked that he was a father of two young children and had a wife, so he should be respected.
Others posted that only God could judge his actions.
Denver Singh said: “There’s always going to be mixed opinions over Nits. I neither condone nor disapprove. Just know that he has two very young kids.”
Shervanie Govender said drug dealers had to remember they had children and families, too.
Mogie Naicker Good said: “Think of all the families who lost loved ones through his drug selling and him getting people murdered.
“To his family, what goes around comes around.”