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Pietermaritzburg - Heeding the pleas of the community, the Combined Action Team (CAT) took down a syndicate of copper thieves on Wednesday night after an intelligence-driven operation.
Members of the community gathered at the Mountain Rise police station during a Community Policing Forum meeting a few days ago, and aired their frustrations at a spate of cable thefts in the Northdale and Raisethorpe areas.
Responding to the appeal of the community, CAT set up a special task team to locate the cable thieves, who were allegedly responsible for blackouts in Northdale, Bombay Heights and Darjeeling Heights over the past two months.
According to CAT operational manager Nobin Karien, they got information on two men from Mooi River and Greytown who had been operating in Pietermaritzburg. The team traced the two men to Forest Hill School at the corner of Chota Motala Road, where they were swiftly apprehended while in the act of stealing cables.
According to Pietermaritzburg police spokesperson Mthokozisi Ngobese, the two men, aged 35 and 33, would be profiled to verify if they were linked to any other crimes.
The men appeared in court on Thursday.
Karien said investigations were continuing so the broader cable theft syndicate in Pietermaritzburg could be flushed out and the perpetrators arrested.
Pietermaritzburg Cluster Commander Major-General Lucas Ngobeni expressed his gratitude to CAT, saying the team had worked tirelessly around the clock to ensure “these thugs … are brought to book”.
