PAUL KIRK, Durban | Friday
THREE top Durban policemen have been implicated in vehicle hijacking syndicates. This week a second stolen vehicle was recovered from the palatial home of a top Durban officer charged with investigating organised crime in less than six months.
In both instances Superintendent Christie Marimuthu claimed the cars belonged to family members. He has not been charged in connection with either vehicle.
On the same day the hijacked car was removed from Marimuthu’s house, members of the police anti-hijacking unit discovered a hijacked BMW parked in the garage of a senior detective from the Durban murder and robbery unit.
The car had been hijacked earlier that day in an incident in which the victim’s nine-year-old son was taken hostage and thrown out of the car once the hijackers established the vehicle did not have an anti-hijacking alarm.
As with Marimuthu, it was the second time the detective had been caught with a stolen car. The detective said both cars were parked on his property by friends. He has also not been charged with either incident.
Meanwhile, it is alleged that the commander of Durban’s vehicle theft unit, Superintendent Desmond Kiston, ordered a stolen vehicle to be returned to the thief who had been arrested in the vehicle instead of the legal owner.
This week an investigation was launched into Kiston’s vehicle theft unit following its alleged involvement in the armed hijacking last Thursday of one of Durban’s most senior policemen – Durban Area Commissioner Director Aaron Harry.
The car was found the following day in Isipingo. The chop shop where the car was found was the residence of Rani Chetty – a receptionist at Independent Newspapers in Durban. She shared the residence with her former husband, a second-hand car salesman.
Police say they have evidence that the police vehicle theft unit may have been collaborating with the pair. Within minutes of the dog unit discovering the hijacked car, senior detectives from the vehicle theft unit arrived and arranged legal representation for the pair. They also gave instructions that large amounts of spare parts – which were suspected to be stolen – not be confiscated.
Attempts by the M&G to contact the three policemen were unsuccessful.
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