Naledi ‘hitman’ surrenders to police

MASERU – A suspected murderer of Ikhetheleng Matabane and ’Maserema ’Makong, two top officials of Naledi Funeral Planners, handed himself over to the police last Thursday.

Mokomane Moisa, 40, appeared briefly before the Maseru Magistrate’s Court for remand on Tuesday.

Moisa surrendered at the police headquarters in Maseru two days after a sting operation that found a 9mm pistol that was said to have been used in the killing of the two Naledi bosses.

The police’s Special Operations Unit (SOU) found the gun when they raided Terene ea Khosi Mokata-Lirope gangsters in Liphakoeng in Leribe last week on Tuesday.

The arrested gangsters, police say, are wanted in connection with murders in Morija and Roma in recent months.

Police spokesperson Senior Superintendent Mpiti Mopeli said the SOU went to Liphakoeng on Tuesday last week in search of suspects who are accused of perpetrating crimes in the country.

They found a group of men belonging to Terene ea Khosi Mokata-Lirope in the village.

“Upon the arrival of our police at the place, a gun fell down from a man in that group,” S/Supt Moipeli said.

When the police intensified their search, they arrested two men, Tankiso Mabusela, 28, from Mafeteng Ha-Matjeka in Matelile who is also known as Koleke and Khauta Kharakha, 33, from Ha-Shepheseli in Leribe.

The two are major suspects in the killing of Tumelo Selepe, 35, of Ribaneng in Mafeteng who was shot dead in Morija on April 28.

S/Supt Mopeli said the guns they used to kill Selepe were found hidden at another man’s place in Ha-Mothae, Lehlakaneng.

S/Supt Mopeli said one of the two arrested men who were found in the Terene group in Liphakoeng is Phoka Matebeleng, 22, who is a suspect in the murder and attempted rape that happened in Roma.

S/Supt Mopeli said there is a syndicate of criminals in Liphakoeng where the murderous gang is hiding.

He said they discovered that there are hitmen who are often hired to kill.

He said contrary to what is being said on social media, the people who were arrested were not in any way associated with the killing of radio presenter Ralikonelo Joki.

The SOU sting operation in Liphakoeng created panic in the village as the police ransacked the village in search of suspects.

Chieftainess ’Mathikhoane Mathealira of Liphakoeng told thepost that she was informed by one of her subjects that the police wanted to see her.

“I was still at home at the time,” she said.

She said a police officer who seemed to be in charge of the team showed her a group of men whom the police had arrested.

As she approached the men, the police asked her if she could identify them and she said she did not know them.

“The police ordered me to immediately call a public gathering,” she said.

“I carried out the order with no questions or queries.”

When her subjects arrived, the police asked them to identify their relatives among the arrested men.

“Only one man managed to single out his three boys from the crowd,” the chieftainess said.

“Honestly I did not know the rest of the other men,” Chieftainess Mathealira said.

Then the police demanded to know how she could stay with people she did not know in her village.

The arrested men were left half naked and were made to kneel down.

“Without wasting time, the police asked for water and doused the men,” she said.

The torture lasted for some minutes and the police left with two men handcuffed in the back of the car.

Chieftainess Mathealira said the police ordered her to expel the other men from the village.

She said she later learned that the men were from as far as Mafeteng and Thaba-Tseka. They were staying with a renowned Terene member known as Mosotho in the village.

The man, whose real name is Tšepiso Radebe, is a farmer who produces crops and vegetables in large quantities in the area.

Radebe told thepost that the police picked up some men who worked in his vegetable plot.

He said some of the men were building his house while others drive his tractors.

“It is not true that these men are here for criminal acts,” Radebe said.

“The police collected these men from a room which I had rented for them,” he said.

“Some of the men were picked up at a shop in the village.”

Radebe, who is a staunch supporter of Terene of Khosi Mokata-Lirope, said not all men who work at his projects are members of Terene.

He said police drove him together with those men to the chief’s place where “we were subjected to inhumane treatment”.

He said the police publicly announced that they had arrested the killers of Joki, who was gunned down three weeks ago.

“But there were no such suspects,” Radebe said.

One of the leaders of Mokata-Lirope Terene faction, Sarele ‘Lehlanya’ Sello, said they are gravely worried about what happened to their members.

“People should not be treated like animals,” Sello said, adding that “suspects should be taken to courts to decide their fate”.

Majara Molupe