{"id":49264,"date":"2026-02-06T08:11:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T08:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=49264"},"modified":"2026-02-06T08:11:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T08:11:11","slug":"one-kidnapping-suspect-dead-two-arrested-eastern-cape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2026\/02\/06\/one-kidnapping-suspect-dead-two-arrested-eastern-cape\/","title":{"rendered":"One kidnapping suspect dead, two arrested in Eastern Cape"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<p><h2>The incident follows an intelligence led investigation linked to multiple kidnapping and armed robbery cases. <\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>A kidnapping suspect has been shot dead and two others arrested in the Eastern Cape.<\/p>\n<p>The Hawks Kidnapping Task Team, together with the East London Tactical Response Team (TRT), has made a major breakthrough in the fight against violent and organised kidnapping and armed robbery within the province this week.<\/p>\n<p>This follows an intelligence-led investigation linked to multiple kidnapping and armed robbery cases, which were reported at Izele, Ndevana, Dimbaza, and Zwelitsha.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-intelligence-operation\">Intelligence operation<\/h2>\n<p>Hawks spokesperson Warrant Officer Ndiphiwe Mhlakuvana said law enforcement identified a white Ford Fiesta suspected of being used in the commission of these serious offences.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn 3 February 2026, detailed information relating to the vehicle was circulated to the police in order to facilitate tracing and interception. On 4 February 2026, the joint team successfully located the said vehicle at King William\u2019s Town, travelling in the direction of Ginsberg, with three occupants.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUpon lawful police intervention, the occupants alighted from the vehicle,\u201d Mhlakuvana said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ALSO READ: Man handed life and five years for rape and kidnapping in KZN<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-shootout\">Shootout<\/h3>\n<p>Mhlakuvana added that <strong>d<\/strong>uring the engagement, one suspect opened fire on the police members.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDuring the exchange of fire, one suspect was fatally wounded and declared deceased at the scene. Two additional suspects aged between 27 and 29 were arrested without any further injury to police members or members of the public.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA thorough search resulted in the recovery of three unlicensed firearms, eight cellular telephones, several sim cards and the vehicle. A meticulous investigation confirmed that the suspects were directly linked to the kidnapping cases reported in the areas,\u201d said Mhlakuvana.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-court\">Court<\/h3>\n<p>The arrested suspects are expected to appear before the Qonce Magistrate\u2019s court on 6 February 2026, where they will face charges related to kidnapping and robbery with a firearm.<\/p>\n<p>Mhlakuvana said the Provincial Head of the Hawks, Major General Obed Ngwenya, commended the team for ensuring that the \u201cculprits are brought to book.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGeneral Ngwenya assured the public that kidnappings and violent organised crime remain priority crimes, and perpetrators will be relentlessly pursued and brought before the courts,\u201d Mhlakuvana said<\/p>\n<p>Investigations are continuing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ALSO READ: Three arrested after Burgersfort kidnapping for ransom<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<h3>Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p>Add The Citizen as a Preferred Source on Google and follow us on Google News to see more of our trusted reporting in Google News and Top Stories.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#kidnapping #suspect #dead #arrested #Eastern #Cape<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The incident follows an intelligence led investigation linked to multiple kidnapping and armed robbery cases. A kidnapping suspect has been&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49265,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49264"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49266,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49264\/revisions\/49266"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}