Three men who were arrested in connection to an armed robbery at Black Chain mall in Katutura on Sunday involving more than N$900 000 were denied bail when they made their first appearance in the Katutura Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
The accused Andreas Katonyala, Simon Ndimulunde and Johannes Noag were arrested on Monday and are facing one count of robbery with aggregating circumstances respectively.
During their appearance before magistrate Alice Gawanas, the State strongly objected to them being released on bail. According to prosecutor Michael Munika, the accused face serious charges and the State expect more people to be arrested in the matter.
The accused were, however, informed by the court that they do have the right to a formal bail application should they wish to be released on bail pending the finalisation of their case.
The court postponed the matter to 27 November for further investigations and for the accused to obtain legal representation.
The accused allegedly form part of the group of seven to eight men who were armed with pistols and held two Southern Cross Security Services guards – driver and his crewman – at gunpoint while they were busy loading boxes of money into their getaway vehicle.
According to police spokesperson, Deputy Commissioner Kauna Shikwambi, the stolen money was collected from various business premises around Windhoek. The crewmen were busy collecting money from Pick n Pay shop, Katutura when the incident occurred.
The suspects allegedly overpowered the security guards and took away all the boxes of money from their cash in transit vehicle.
The suspects loaded the stolen boxes of money into a silver VW Polo hatchback and drove away.
According to court documents, the accused walked away with N$991 196 in cash.
– mamakali@nepc.com.na