Pretoria - Three Bangladeshi nationals have been granted R10 000 bail by the Vanderbijlpark Magistrate’s Court after they were arrested on charges of murder, kidnapping and attempted extortion.
Mohammed Alamin aged 26, Fuzlol Alom aged 36, and 34-year-old Mohammed Solayman Ahmed are charged together with compatriot, 27-year-old Mohammed Rahman.
North Gauteng regional spokesperson for the director of public prosecutions Lumka Mahanjana said, Rahman remained in custody after he abandoned his bail application.
“Rahman is facing a further charge of being illegal in the country. It is alleged that on 16 December 2021 the four accused kidnapped a man, also Bangladeshi, in Kwaggafontein in Mpumalanga and drove with him to Vanderbijlpark where they assaulted him,” said Mahanjana.
“They then took a video of him and sent it to his family in Bangladesh, demanding that the family pay them money for his release. After several days of not receiving a response from his family they killed him, dumped and burnt his body in the bushes in Bophelong [Vanderbijlpark].”
The body of the slain Bangladeshi national body was discovered by a person who was passing by on 30 December 2021.
“The four were initially arrested and appeared at Kwaggafontein Magistrate’s Court on kidnapping charges, and were later arrested again on 04 March 2022 and appeared at Vanderbijlpark Magistrates’ Court for the murder charge. The four accused confessed to committing the offences. The two dockets were subsequently joined together at Vanderbijlpark,” said Mahanjana.
In court the State had opposed bail.
“Prosecutor Corneller Grobler told the court that it was not in the best interest of justice for the accused to be granted bail because they were a flight risk, as there was nothing binding them to the country besides their shop which is worth R200 000 and considering the charges they are facing, they can flee,” said Mahanjana.
She added that the accused might interfere with witnesses who were in Bangladesh and influence them.
“She also informed the court that the accused are being investigated for a similar offence which they committed before the current one, therefore they are likely to commit the same offence again should they be released on bail,” Mahanjana narrated.
The magistrate however, granted them bail with on condition that they report to the police station every Monday and Friday between 9am and 4pm.
The court also ordered the trio not to leave the Vanderbijlpark, Vereeniging, and Boipatong areas.
“The magistrate further stated that she does not believe the accused are a flight risk since they own properties and are asylum seekers in South Africa,” said Mahanjana.
The matter was postponed to 1 July for further investigation.
IOL