THOHOYANDOU – Three men, whose ages range between 31 and 37, were arrested and charged with armed robbery, following an incident that took place at the Thohoyandou Shopping centre on Monday morning at about 08:45.

According to the spokesperson of the police in Thohoyandou, Insp Nkanukeni Raedani, a security guard carrying two boxes containing cash was on the way from the Thohoyandou branch of the Shoprite Store to the local branch of Absa bank when the incident took place.

When he got out of the store, he was confronted by six gunmen who allegedly ordered him to put down the boxes containing cash after disarming him. The gunmen then took the boxes and ran away in the direction of the old taxi rank.

The stranded security guard then screamed for help. Police officers arrived at the scene a little later. The search for the robbers then started. The police subsequently received information that three of the gunmen got into a Nissan Sentra and that they drove off in the direction of Makhado (Louis Trichardt).

The police officers then traced the thugs until they stopped the Sentra somewhere along the road at Tshisaulu village. The vehicle was searched and the police arrested three men, two of which are from Gauteng while the other one is a local resident.

According to the police statement, part of the money that was robbed during the ordeal was found in the car. The search for the other three robbers was still on at the time of going to press. The suspects were also still to appear in court.