One of North West's most wanted men arrested

A 20-year-old man has been arrested for murder, rape and hijacking in Zeerust, North West police said on Friday.

Lt-Col Lesego Metsi said the man arrested on Thursday was one of the three most wanted men in the province for hijacking, murders, attempted murders, kidnapping and rape incidents which took place in Zeerust and Madikwe from November 2011 to October this year.

"The arrest was made following intensified operation[s] by the team last night, [Thursday]. The 20-year-old suspect was the only remaining suspect to be arrested, following the arrest of his two partners-in-crime, who were arrested on November 20."

He said the modus operandi of the men was that they allegedly hijacked their victims -- most of whom were couples at secluded places -- then raped the female partners, and murdered the couple.

"In some of the cases the victims were kidnapped and raped by their assailants."

All the murdered victims were shot.

He said in the last incident, a couple was hijacked and the boyfriend managed to escape while the suspects raped the girlfriend and then killed her.

He said the 20-year-old suspect had also been linked to other rape cases in the area.

"The police will be conducting DNA analysis to determine if they are not linked to other cases," he said.