Selma Ikela
Windhoek-Windhoek City Police arrested four men who allegedly hijacked a vehicle over a week ago and withdrew N$5,000 from the owner’s bank account, using his ATM card.
The vehicle, a Nissan hard body, has since been recovered in possession of a fourth man. City Police spokesperson Fabian Amukwelele said the fourth suspect claims he found the car abandoned for three days in Greenwell Matongo and he decided to take it.
Amukwelele said they came across this particular vehicle while investigating the case of another stolen vehicle from Swakopmund with a similar description. In this case, he said, the robbers pounced on the owner in Cimbebasia on April 26, while he was parked on the side of the road smoking.
Amukwelele said three armed robbers held the owner at gunpoint on April 26, demanding his PIN code and then went to withdraw N$5,000. “While one man drove to the ATM, two robbers remained behind with the victim,” he said.
He said they eventually managed to trace the fourth suspect, whom the police found driving a taxi. “He took us to where he had left the car. He had parked the vehicle at a service station after he ran out of fuel,” Amukwelele explained.
“The fourth man, a resident of Okahandja Park informal settlement claimed the vehicle was abandoned in Greenwell Matongo for three days and decided to take it. The key was in the ignition. The man said he found the car without a battery, which he then replaced,” he remarked.
Amukwelele noted that the number plate of the vehicle had been changed and that the vehicle owner reported that his car had been stripped of its bullbar, fog lights, canopy, radio and battery.