‘Cops gunned for Kinnear’
SILENCED: Detective Charl Kinnear was shot in Bishop Lavis
Murdered top cop Charl Kinnear was planning to bust two high-ranking officers involved in a guns-to-gangs racket at SAPS head office in Pretoria before he was killed.
A senior police officer, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “He (Kinnear) was about to arrest two brigadiers who are implicated in cloning firearm registration and giving the licences to gangsters who use them to buy automatic rifles”
The Anti-Gang Unit detective was shot and killed in his car in front of his Bishop Lavis home on Friday, 18 September.
A 39-year-old murder suspect was arrested in Springs last Wednesday.
A former rugby player for the Valke and Griquas, Zane Kilian appeared under heavy police protection in the Bishop Lavis Magistrates’ Court on Friday, where he is facing charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder and illegal interception of communication.
Kilian, who is a debt collector and owns a tracking and investigations company, had allegedly been tracking Kinnear’s cellphone since March up until the day he was killed.
The police source added: “I have been reliably informed that Kinnear’s phone was pinged 4800 times at the time he was killed.”
It is believed Kinnear’s death is related to alleged corruption within the police force.
A senior intelligence officer on Saturday said officers were caught in a crossfire between top police brass who have taken sides in criminal investigations: “The problem is that some senior police officers are involved in all of this.
“Police and crime intelligence officers take bribes from criminals to ping investigators and assist the underworld to trace their movements.
“There is no control within the police to clean out the rot within, that’s one of the reasons these criminals in the underworld can do what they like.”
State Security Agency spokesperson Mava Scott said people are not supposed to be in possession of devices or software that can be used to track and locate people.
Kilian allegedly told police that he was hired by a client named “Mohamed”, who wanted his wife’s phone traced, and claims he was unaware that the phone belonged to Kinnear.
Kinnear was the investigating officer in the extortion case against Nafiz Modack, Colin Booysen, Ashley Fields, Jacques Cronjé and Carl Lakay.
Kilian has been linked to alleged controversial businessman Modack.
Modack posted pictures of Kilian on Facebook in March, with a message: “All JHB debt collectors must go via Kilian, call him”.
Kilian was scheduled to appear in court again on 5 October for bail.
Hawks spokesperson Hangwani Mulaudzi said more arrests were imminent.
Private investigator Paul O’Sullivan, who offered a R1 million reward for information that could lead to the arrest of Kinnear’s killers, said: “We’ve been receiving information through calls and emails. We passed information on to investigators as we are not involved in the investigation itself. The information was useful enough to lead to an arrest.”
He said no one has claimed the reward: “They come forward because they want to do their civic duty.”