An e-hailing taxi driver has been arrested for perjury and defeating the ends of justice after he allegedly lied about being hijacked and held hostage in Durban.
Constable Thenjiswa Ngcobo, the KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson said on Sunday morning, the man arrived at the Phoenix community service centre to open a case of hijacking.
“According to the alleged victim, he is an e-hailing driver and on Friday, August 5, he picked up passengers on Hillhead Road in Phoenix. While on the route, he was robbed off his vehicle and hels hostage at an unknown location,” said Ngcobo.
“He further alleged that on Saturday night, he managed to escape and arrive at Phoenix SAPS to report a case of hijacking.”
Ngcobo said the Phoenix trio crime team followed up information about the hijacked vehicle, “which was found to be parked at Isipingo SAPS”.
Ngcobo said: “On interviewing the complainant in the matter, it was established that he had parked the vehicle as Isipingo SAPS and threw the keys along the Alice Street railway line and opened a false case.
“The suspect took police officers to Alice Street, where the keys were recovered, and then to Isipingo police station, where the vehicle that he reported as hijacked was recovered. The suspect was arrested, and the vehicle was impounded for investigation.”
Ngcobo said the 41-year-old man faces charges of perjury and defeating the ends of justice.
“We would like to warn members of the public to refrain from opening false case. It is punishable by law to open such cases, and police have uncovered a large number of such cases,” Ngcobo added.
Source: News24, Times Live, image from Twitter SAPS