Policeman wounded in shoot-out with CIT gunmen

The second foiled cash-heist in as many days in KwaZulu-Natal saw elite police tactical units and heavily-armed robbers trading gunfire in the northern expanses of the province on Wednesday morning.

A policeman was wounded in the exchange which played out on the R34 near Nkwalini‚ police spokesperson brigadier Vish Naidoo said.

“During the early hours of this morning‚ a cash-in-transit (CIT) vehicle was attacked while travelling on the R34 between Nkwalini and Empangeni near Mfuli game reserve‚” he said on Wednesday.

“While on the R34 the CIT vehicle came across logs on the road and as [it] slowed down‚ suspects opened fire‚” he added.

He said that the Saps Special Task Force (STF) and the National Intervention Unit (NIU) had been mobilised proactively after intelligence was received that the vehicle was going to be attacked.

“Members of the STF and the NIU returned fire forcing the suspects to flee in a bakkie. A Toyota Hilux bakkie was later found abandoned at Mthunzini. One member of the SAPS was injured during the shooting. No arrests have yet been made‚” Naidoo said.