Police catch up with farm attack suspect

A MORE than two-month-long Police search for an alleged key suspect in a violent farm robbery committed in the Grootfontein district at the end of July bore fruit in Windhoek over the weekend.

Members of the Police’s Serious Crime Unit arrested hunting guide Max Nashilongo in the One Nation area of Katutura on Saturday. The arrest brings to a close a search that has been in progress since the Police first issued a public appeal for help in getting hold of Nashilongo in early August.Nashilongo was wanted in connection with an armed robbery at farm Aandster in the Maroelaboom area northeast of Grootfontein on July 29.A gang of men gained entry to the house of farm residents Wessel and Ria Jacobs, aged 68 and 69 respectively, in the early morning hours.The couple was assaulted and tied up, with the attackers also subjecting Mr Jacobs to torture with burning plastic in an attempt to get him to reveal the code of a combination lock safe in the couple’s home.His wife was seriously injured when she was assaulted.Her condition was so serious that she had to be flown to Windhoek for medical treatment.The robbers eventually managed to break open the safe and made off with a large amount of cash money, jewellery and three handguns.A suspected getaway car used to flee from the farm was stopped at Grootfontein shortly after the robbery.All but one of the occupants of the vehicle managed to flee, though.With Nashilongo’s arrest, he is set to be added as an accused in a case in which two people already face a charge of robbery with aggravating circumstances.His co-accused are Napembe Abrahams (34), who was the first to be arrested on the day after the robbery, and Johannes Moses Jackson (32), who was arrested in Windhoek on July 30.The arrest brings to a close a search that has been in progress since the Police first issued a public appeal for help in getting hold of Nashilongo in early August.Nashilongo was wanted in connection with an armed robbery at farm Aandster in the Maroelaboom area northeast of Grootfontein on July 29.A gang of men gained entry to the house of farm residents Wessel and Ria Jacobs, aged 68 and 69 respectively, in the early morning hours.The couple was assaulted and tied up, with the attackers also subjecting Mr Jacobs to torture with burning plastic in an attempt to get him to reveal the code of a combination lock safe in the couple’s home.His wife was seriously injured when she was assaulted.Her condition was so serious that she had to be flown to Windhoek for medical treatment.The robbers eventually managed to break open the safe and made off with a large amount of cash money, jewellery and three handguns.A suspected getaway car used to flee from the farm was stopped at Grootfontein shortly after the robbery.All but one of the occupants of the vehicle managed to flee, though.With Nashilongo’s arrest, he is set to be added as an accused in a case in which two people already face a charge of robbery with aggravating circumstances.His co-accused are Napembe Abrahams (34), who was the first to be arrested on the day after the robbery, and Johannes Moses Jackson (32), who was arrested in Windhoek on July 30.