Johannesburg – A suspect accused of multiple cases of arson, murder, and burglary in the East and North parts of Johannesburg has reportedly been caught and taken into police custody after being loose on the streets, frightening residents for two years.
In April this year, the man in question allegedly torched residents’ homes in Johannesburg’s upmarket suburbs of Hyde Park, Dunkeld and Illovo after breaking in. He also reportedly set alight a double-story house in lower Houghton.
The suspect was located walking in Emmarentia.
His arrest took place on Tuesday evening.
He was taken into custody at the designated SAPS station.
In a statement released by Fidelity Service Group, it was confirmed that the teams were able to expertly detain and arrest the suspect with no shots fired and no injuries to report.
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In April this year, Fidelity offered a 100 000 Rand reward for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of the alleged arsonist and instituted a tip-off line for anyone that had information relating to these events.
“Acting on a tip-off, a specialist tactical operation was launched by the South African Police Services Serious & Violent Crimes Gauteng Operations team, assisted by SAPS Counter Intelligence Investigations Head Office; SAPS JHB K9 division, members of Fidelity’s Specialised Services unit and CAP Security,” the statement read.
CEO of Fidelity Services Group, Wahl Bartmann, said that the tip-off will be rewarded.
“The current tip-off is from that line, so as soon as the suspect is convicted we will honour this reward,” he said.
“Our thanks and appreciation go to the various SAPS teams and to our Specialist Services unit and CAP who assisted in the operation today. This detention is long overdue and we trust justice will prevail. We extend our Special thanks to the Gauteng SAPS and the SAPS SVC unit,” he said.
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Compiled by Junaid Benjamin
