A police officer was was fatally wounded by a man he arrested for robbing three women of R110,000 in stokvel money in Empangeni, KwaZulu-Natal police said on Saturday.
Spokesman Brigadier Jay Naicker said Warrant Officer Niren Ramsaroop was patrolling in the Empangeni central business district when he and his colleagues were approached by three women who claimed they had been robbed of the R110,000 stokvel money they had withdrawn from the bank.
Moments later Ramsaroop spotted one of the men and and grabbed him, but in the process the man pulled out a firearm and shot the policeman in the chest, fatally wounding him.
However, before he succumbed to his injuries, Ramsaroop returned fire, wounding the 41-year-old suspect. Naicker said the second man involved in the robbery managed to escape with the money.
He said a 7.65mm pistol with the serial number erased was recovered from the wounded suspect, who was taken to hospital under police guard. – African News Agency (ANA)
