Police in North West made a swift arrest following the brutal murder of two of their colleagues on Monday.
The bodies of 50-year-old Constable Simon Ntsekeletsa and 42-year-old Sergeant Mojalefa Molete were discovered in the back of their police van that was also set alight.
Police Spokesperson Captain Tlangelani Rikhotso says the officers, who were stationed at the Mareetsane police station, came across a suspicious vehicle loaded with suspected stolen goats.
She says the officers called it in and said they would bring the vehicle to the police station.
Captain Rikhotso says the officers never arrived and could not be reached on their phones or police radio.
She says a search was immediately launched.
On Tuesday police were alerted by community members of bloodstains on the road leading to the police station.
Police combed the scene and found a knife and police badges belonging to the missing officers.
She says upon further investigation police found a burnt-out state vehicle with the bodies of their colleagues inside.
The multi-disciplinary task team was activated and five suspects were arrested on Wednesday.
Captain Rikhotso says the suspects had a firearm that belonged to one of the slain officers.
Police also confiscated a hammer, blood-stained clothing and seized a vehicle for further investigation.
The suspects will make their first appearance in the Ganyesa Magistrate’s Court on charges of murder, malicious damage to property and possession of a stolen firearm.
