MASERU — A rogue police officer who shot and killed a 24-year-old man from Thaba-Tseka Bokong was arrested last Saturday.
The officer confessed to the police that he had been hired to kill the man by his neighbor after being paid M5 000.
His two other accomplices who he recruited to help him carry out the murder were also arrested.
The cause of the killing was not disclosed.
Police spokesperson Masupha Masupha said the three pumped six bullets into the deceased when they stormed his house at around 9pm.
“The suspects fled after shooting the victim but the villagers and police went after them,” Masupha said.
The suspects sped off in a blue Tazz with registration numbers AF 646 after killing the man.
The assassins were caught in Leribe Pitseng in possession of two 9mm firearms and 19 bullets.
Masupha said the rogue police officer who is based in Quthing is currently studying at one of the tertiary institutions in Maseru.
Masupha said when the police arrived at the scene they found the deceased slouched in his chair.
Police are investigating the case, he added.
In another incident, three men briefly appeared before the Maseru Magistrate’s Court to answer charges of murder.
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The suspects, Teboho Nts’onyane, Molelekoa Maponyane and Thabiso Mabopo are accused of killing a woman in October this year.
Her dead body was found in a cemetery by a cleaning company.
Before the woman died she had reported to the police that her property had been stolen from her house.
Police said the suspects thought the woman might have told police about them.
Three days after the woman’s body was discovered a security guard at a supermarket in Tsoapolebolila was also found dead in the same cemetery.
It is alleged that the same suspects wanted the victim’s firearm.
Police said the three men are also accused of a number of murder cases, armed robbery and rape.