Three people have been taken in for questioning in connection with the brazen attack on a Spar supermarket in Lady Frere‚ Eastern Cape‚ on Wednesday morning‚ where robbers took off with an ATM machine.
“The three men were taken for questioning… which is part of our investigations‚” police spokeswoman Captain Namhla Mdleleni said on Thursday afternoon.
She did not provide further information.
In the incident‚ which was captured on CCTV cameras‚ a group of seven robbers are seen walking into the supermarket and pointing guns at the customers‚ who ran for cover.
One of the robbers calmly directed a bakkie with an open tailgate‚ and the vehicle is then seen reversing into the store. The robbers simply walked up to the machine‚ unplugged it and loaded the whole thing into the back of their getaway bakkie.
The store manager‚ Vuyo Mbimbi‚ said seven men had barged into the shop‚ situated in Fletcher Street‚ just after 8am.
According to police‚ the machine‚ owned by Cash Paymaster Services‚ is used by the South African Social Security Agency to pay out grants. Shortly before the robbery it was loaded with about R450‚000.
Mbimbi said police were called to the scene and added that nobody had been injured. Mdleleni said that at least one shot was fired inside the store during the robbery.
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