Probe into ‘extortion’ by alleged gangsters

THE case docket of four alleged gangsters suspected of threatening, and demanding money from a family in Mfuleni, has been sent back to the police station for further investigation.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said it had received the docket but the matter was not placed on the court roll yesterday.

“We sent the docket back with five queries which we requested to be completed,” Ntabazalila said.

The suspects, aged 21, 31, 34 and 44, who are from the Wesbank area, were to appear in the Blue Downs Magistrate’s Court on extortion charges but Ntabazalila said after an investigation, the NPA would decide whether the four would be prosecuted.

They were arrested on Monday evening after an extortion complaint was lodged at the Mfuleni policing precinct. According to police spokesperson FC van Wyk, a complainant from the Wesbank area claimed the alleged gang members had threatened him and his family.

Van Wyk said they allegedly demanded a substantial amount of money from the complainant, who then allegedly made the payment. Police investigators and officers attached to the police’s Anti-Gang Unit had arrested the four.

He said through pamphlet distribution and informative efforts by the police and their community policing partners in the Mfuleni policing precinct, residents of the area had been informed of the seriousness of extortion and the negative impact it had on communities.

“It has become clearer by the day through a number of reports how businesses and residents are experiencing extortion from gangsters,” he said.

Anyone with information on extortion can call the police’s extortion hotline at 021 466 0011 or Crime Stop at 08600 10111.