Armed suspects intercept cash van, blow it up, and flee with an undisclosed sum; community warned against tampering with crime scene.
The Gauteng police are on a manhunt to arrest a group of suspects who are linked to a cash-in-transit heist in Hammanskraal on Wednesday morning.
At around 7:45am, near the Mandela Sports Complex in Hammanskraal, the driver of the vehicle and his two crew members were travelling along Hamman Road in Hammanskraal from the N1 freeway when they were intercepted by a group of armed suspects who rammed into the van with a silver Mercedes Benz C180.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Amanda van Wyk said the suspects allegedly fired shots at the guards and then blew up the van before they fled the scene with an undisclosed amount of money.
She added that they fled the scene in a white Ford Ranger.
Videos posted on social media showed community members allegedly trying to take some of the money lying around, and the van crew seemed to be trying to chase them away.
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“Community members are warned not to find themselves on the wrong side of the law by helping themselves to money lying around or tampering with active crime scenes,” van Wyk said in response to this.
The police have urged anyone with information that may assist with the investigation to contact SAPS Hammanskraal on 012 432 8767, SAPS Crime Stop on 08600 10111, or alternatively leave an anonymous tip-off on the MySAPS App.
Meanwhile, the police added that two weeks ago, they foiled a planned CIT heist in Dobsonville and recovered three vehicles used during the commission of the crime, as well as an R5 and three AK47 assault rifles; two suspects were fatally wounded during this incident.
Wanted suspect fatally wounded in shootout
On Sunday, a man on Gauteng’s most wanted list was fatally wounded on Sunday during a shootout with the police in Olievenhoutbosch, south of Pretoria.
The suspect suffered fatal wounds in the shootout, while two of his accomplices were taken into custody.
ALSO READ: One of Gauteng’s most wanted suspects fatally wounded in police shootout
He was wanted for the attempted murder of two police officers, cash-in-transit thefts, ATM bombs, and killings. According to the police, among the people the wanted suspect allegedly killed was a traffic police officer who was responding to an ATM bombing in Erasmia, Tshwane.
