OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Tuesday 9.00pm.
POLICE on Monday arrested a leader of vigilante group Pagad, which they have linked to a spate of bombings in and around Cape Town.
Salie Abadar, leader of the armed guard of People against Gangsterism and Drugs, is being held on charges of the illegal possession of a firearm and illegal fundraising, police said.
Pagad spokesman Cassiem Parker said the arrest is an “obvious attempt to keep Pagad members behind bars” during the election on Wednesday.
He said: “At the moment there are 18 of our members in jail awaiting trial. The police are going around searching our houses and now suddenly arresting them for offences committed in 1997 and 1998.”
Abadar was arrested in the farming town of Ceres, some 150km outside Cape Town, said police spokeswoman Anine de Beer.
Bomb attacks believed to be linked to Pagad, or small radical Muslim groups, have killed more than 60 people in and around Cape Town over the past two years.
Police have made practically no progress in tracking down the killers.
Western Cape police a fortnight ago predicted that attacks could increase as the election drew closer and the province has been identified as a potential flashpoint for violence ahead of the poll.
“Thousands” of policemen and troops will deployed in the province for the election, officials said. — AFP