17 cops to be tried for murder
SIX years after the reported kidnapping, torture and murder of Chatsworth father, Regan Naidoo, the 17 police officers accused of his killing are expected to stand trial in the coming weeks.
They appeared in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.
Initially, 22 policemen were charged. But in 2023, one of the accused, Riyadh Adams, was killed in a shoot-out during a robbery at the Pavilion Mall.
The State subsequently withdrew charges against Christopher Kisten, Irindran Maistry, Ralph Ogle and Brigadier (now General) Kevin Christopher James, who was the station commander of the Chatsworth police station, at the time of Naidoo’s death.
Naidoo and his two friends were picked up by police from a fuel station in Montford on August 28, 2018.
It was alleged that Naidoo had bought a firearm which had been used in a murder.
During questioning, the police officers allegedly assaulted Naidoo and his friends.
Naidoo collapsed while he was in custody at the Chatsworth police station holding cells on August, 29, 2018, at around 3am.
The policemen loaded him into a police vehicle and took him to RK Khan Hospital where he was declared dead on arrival.
His father, Timothy Naidoo, now 60, who was at the police station as soon as he heard of his son’s arrest, became suspicious when the officers allegedly misled him with incorrect information.
They had told him that his son had choked on a pie.
He did not believe their version of events and was relentless in his quest to prove that the police officers had allegedly killed his son.
He reported his son’s mysterious death in police custody to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid), and engaged private pathologist Reggie Perumal to conduct a post-mortem.
The policemen from the Chatsworth SAPS Trio Crime Unit, Durban K9 Unit, Durban Flying Squad and Provincial Organised Crime Unit were arrested for Naidoo’s murder after the post-mortem results revealed that he (Naidoo) had died from multiple fractures and blunt force injury to the head, and not from choking on food.
The policemen were: Pushpanthan Pillay (48), Malcolm Naicker (39), Brian Naidoo (63), Trevor Chetty (44), Mlamhli Ntutuka (39), Andries Botes (46), Sihle Ngidi (39), Erik Karsen (39), Muhammed Raoof (52), Eric Morajane (44), Preshan Lutchman (30), Cedric Pillay (36), Xolani Sosibo (34), Kubendran Kristen (39), Rajan Sanders (47), Devendra Chetty (49) and Ugeshan Govender (39).
Naidoo’s injuries included bruising, multiple fractured ribs, lung bruising and haemorrhages. No food was found in his system.
Timothy said he felt a small sense of relief that a pre-trial date had been set after a six-year wait and numerous court appearances.
“It has been a difficult journey but I never gave up hope and still carried on.
“The biggest obstacle in the Indian community is fear. If we remove fear, we can remove most of the corrupt police officers and make the community safe.
“My son was the breadwinner in our home and worked hard as an alarm technician subcontractor.
“He was assaulted in front of his pregnant wife and his six-year-old daughter.
“His son never got to see him. His children deserve justice for his death,” he said.
Timothy praised Ipid for their sterling investigations.
“I thank Ipid for a job well done. If they had not conducted their investigations thoroughly, so many policemen would not be held accountable for their actions.
“My family and I are unable to live a normal life since my son’s murder.
“I will make sure that I do whatever it takes to hold those who killed my son accountable, because I wouldn’t want another parent going through the same thing.
“Parents losing children due to police corruption must end. I still cannot sleep, six years later, and will only rest when I get justice for my son.”
Magistrate Maryn Mewalal set down the pretrial conference for mid-March.
The trial is expected to begin two to four weeks after that.