Alleged cop killers taken down in separate raids

Three men were arrested on Thursday for allegedly killing a police officer.

National police spokesperson Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo said Constable Motlalentoa Mahlatsi‚ 37‚ was killed in the early hours of Wednesday morning in Elsburg‚ Ekurhuleni while attending to a complaint.

The investigation team from Gauteng arrested two suspects in Katlehong in the early hours of Thursday morning and recovered two vehicles‚ two firearms and ammunition.

“The police linked one of the suspects to the alleged murder of another police officer‚ 36-year-old Constable Bafana Happy Hlungwani‚ who was killed at Germiston in April this year‚” Naidoo said.

“This suspect was wanted on four more murder cases reported in Primrose during 2017 and 2018.”

The third suspect was arrested eMbalenhle‚ Mpumalanga‚ where the police confiscated two pistols and a bullet riddled Volkswagen Polo.

The suspects will appear in court soon.

National Police Commissioner General Khehla Sithole said: “The police are part of our communities‚ they are the frontline of safety and security in our country. I am calling on to you as the community to stand against police killings and to say ‘hands off our police officers’."