‘Bad Boy’ cop finally behind bars

Arrests after bodies of murdered suspects found in field

FOR years, two experienced Gauteng detectives operated with impunity – allegedly coercing confessions through beatings, mock executions and now suspected murder. The rogue Springs detectives – one of whom is behind bars with two police informers – modelled themselves on the blockbuster Hollywood movie Bad Boys. But their actions have now caught up with them.

Late on Monday, an informant tipped off crime intelligence agents about the bodies of three murder suspects hidden in a field near Carletonville, on the West Rand.

Two of the men had been shot dead. The third was beaten to death. A fourth man, also shot, pretended to be dead, and later flagged down a passing motorist. That was last month. As senior Gauteng police managers kept mum about the investigation yesterday, it is not known why the informant only told police about the killings three weeks later.

Gauteng provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Lesetja Mothiba announced the arrest of one of the policemen and two informants (constables), saying the informants were allegedly involved in the killings.

“An informant, who is in protective custody, blew the whistle on the killings.

“He was one of three informants who accompanied the policemen in their tracing of the four suspects and who were part of the tragic events.”

A detective who has worked with the policemen said he was not surprised that they had been arrested, but rather that it had taken so long. “They are known for their use of excessive force.”

He said they were part of the former Trio Crimes Task Team, whose members were involved in tracking down murder, robbery and hijack suspects. “They are specifically trained to help other detectives trace and arrest suspects difficult to find.”

The detective said information had to be obtained and “it’s often done [by unconventional means], but definitely not like this”.

He said his colleagues were known for their alleged use of heavy-handed tactics, and for blikseming [beating] people.

“They liked to think of themselves as the characters in the Bad Boys movies, doing whatever they needed to solve a case.”

Problems had arisen around the detectives, with cases being thrown out of court because of what they had allegedly done to suspects.

“They were operating in their own way, under the radar. There are charges which should have been brought against them but for unknown reasons were not.”

Gauteng provincial detective head MajorGeneral Vincent Leshabane declined to reveal either the names of the murdered men or the motive for the murders.

“When the bodies were found, you could see they had been hidden,” he said.

He said a postmortem would be conducted this week to determine cause of death.

“A special team is hunting down the [other] detective and his informant who, like their [alleged] accomplices, will be charged with murder and attempted murder.”