'Aunty Shamilla' and friends robbed, taken on joyride by bogus cops
Durban - A Durban man and three of his friends, who were hijacked at gunpoint allegedly by bogus cops and left in the middle of nowhere, are grateful to be alive.
Akshay Singh, the son of a prominent Durban dermatologist, said they were traveling in a Ford Ranger when the driver was pulled over at around 8 pm on Friday night near Heidelberg.
Among his friends were Durban comedian Prev Reddy aka Aunty Shamilla.
This is the message Prev Reddy posted on Instagram following the ordeal.
Screenshot: Instagram
Singh said he had been seated in the back when they were flagged down by a marked police vehicle near Heidelberg.
"A guy came to the driver's side window and asked the driver about why the number plate had been missing at the back of his van. While his car had been marked, the guy had been dressed in a black jacket and did not have a police uniform," he said.
Singh said this raised their suspicions and they then asked the man for identification (police badge) which is when he produced a firearm and held it to the driver's head.
"He then unlocked all the doors and four other guys suddenly appeared. One held a gun to the passenger's head, while the three jumped into the back," he said.
Singh said they were taken to a remote location where three of his friends had balaclavas placed over their heads.
"They didn't use one on me because I think it didn't fit," said Singh.
He said they were asked to hand over all their cellphones, laptops and iPads after removing the passwords and security codes.
"They then began searching for the tracker on the vehicle."
Singh said after failing to find the tracker, his friend told the hijackers that it was a work vehicle and only his boss would now.
"The hijackers ordered him to phone his boss. So he did. But it was actually his dad who kind of figured out what was happening at that stage. The dad said that there was to tracker as it was too expensive to install. This is when they decided to leave us and drove of in the vehicle," he said.
Singh said they walked for about 10 kilometres to the freeway before getting help from an ambulance.
"The ambulance had to go to an emergency and contacted the police. When they did not arrive within an hour, we flagged down police from Heidelberg SAPS and was taken to the station."
Singh said they were terrified by relieved.
Reddy said he was still processing what happened.
"You are literally numb at that point and all you think about is coming out alive."
Gauteng spokesperson Captain Kay Makhubele confirmed the incident.
"The suspects took four Samsung cellphones, three iPhones, and Apple laptop, and a Samsung tablet, bank cards as well as the driver's licences, bags full of expensive clothes and shoes that they were wearing. Suspects demanded pincodes of bank cards and left victims in the bushes. The suspects are unknown and no arrests have been made at this stage.