Farm murder suspect among six arrested in KZN

Aman Giyanshwar Roopsingh. (Photo: africanfarming.com)

A man who is directly linked to the murder of a 52-year-old KwaZulu-Natal sugar cane farmer is one of six men who were arrested in a police breakthrough after a raid.

Aman Giyanshwar Roopsingh van Shakaskraal in die iLembe-distrik was attacked by masked people in his farmhouse on 30 January and stabbed several times. He died four days later in hospital. Roopsingh’s 77-year-old uncle was also brutally attacked and treated in hospital. The 52-year-old victim’s mother was also in the house at the time of the attack.

Shakaskraal is about 15 kilometers south-east of KwaDukuza and 53 km north-east of Durban.

The six suspects between the ages of 20 and 25 are also suspected of a spate of other violent crimes, including break-ins at businesses and homes in various areas – Shaumoyoa, Nkobongo, Rietvallei and Itete. The police compiled profiles of them after a series of other violent crimes in the Umhlali area.

Lt. Col. Paul Magwaza, police spokesperson, says a shotgun and a pistol are among the firearms that were stolen from the Roopsingh house.

Two months after the murder of Roopsingh, the six men managed to flee after a back-and-forth shootout with the police on March 28. However, on Sunday, two weeks after the shooting, they were tracked down and apprehended in the Shaymoya area of ​​the Umhlali policing area.

The SA Farmers Development Association (Safda), which looks after the interests of sugarcane growers, said after Roopsingh’s murder that the loss of a farmer under such violent circumstances is a crushing loss for the family as well as the farming community. Higging Mdluli, chairman of the Sugar Cane Growers’ Association said at the time that Roopsingh’s family was deeply rooted in the sugar cane growing community and that he would be greatly missed.