Detective off the hook after Hawks ‘sting’

THE Hawks have egg on their faces with the Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions’ decision not to pursue corruption charges against a leading Duncan Village police detective.

Advocate Deneshree Naicker, a specialist commercial crimes prosecutor, notified the Hawks last month that she would not be prosecuting Detective Sergeant Suneel Bellochun.

In an interview with the Dispatch, Bellochun said the arrest had broken him and wrenched him away from the community he had worked hard for years to win over.

“I remember when I was in the holding cells of the East London Magistrate’s Court I wanted to commit suicide because I could not believe what was happening to me.

“This was a setup and it has ruined my life.

“One wonders how many people’s lives have been ruined by the Hawks with trumped up charges,” Bellochun said.

Although he has been back at work for more than a year since a “not guilty” verdict by an SAPS disciplinary committee, he said life was no longer the same.

“I have to report for duty every day to my bosses who see me as a corrupt person. I have to prove my innocence to them and members of my community every day,” Bellochun said.

Bellochun was arrested by members of the Hawks in 2014 during a sting operation in the East London CBD.

The Hawks had claimed that Bellochun solicited a R30 000 bribe from an unidentified spaza shop owner operating near the East London taxi rank.

This was after he allegedly spotted the spaza shop owner driving a vehicle transporting illegal cigarettes.

At the time, the Hawks claimed Bellochun stopped the vehicle and threatened to arrest the owner of the cigarettes before demanding R30 000 to look the other way.

The Hawks said they arrested Bellochun while he was accepting the bribe.

But in her written submission to the Hawks on September 15, Naicker wrote: “Having considered your representation and the evidence and facts of the case as they are available to me at this stage, I decline to prosecute.”

Her letter was acknowledged by the Hawks’ East London unit commander for organised crime Colonel Sonwabiso Mboniswa.

He relayed the news in writing to the head of the Hawks in the Eastern Cape, Major-General Nyameko Nogwanya, commercial crime head Brigadier Nelson Mabotja, organised crime head Brigadier Govender and the station commander for Duncan Village police station, Colonel Piet Bellingan.

Mboniswa wrote: “Investigation into the abovementioned cases were finalised by Captain (Johan) Koedyk.

“Consultation with some other witnesses was conducted by advocate Naicker. After the dockets were perused by advocate Naicker she declined to prosecute.

“The matters are now finalised and will be filed at the respective stations.”

The Hawks declined to comment on the developments.