Movie-style robbery at private hospital
Blessings Mashaya and Sindiso Mlophe
OVER a dozen suspected armed robbers pounced movie-style on the affluent Borrowdale Hospital Trauma Centre yesterday —an incident that was captured on CCTV, the Daily News on Sunday reports.
National police spokesperson Paul Nyathi confirmed the incident saying the police were currently investigating the matter.
Trauma Centre owner, prominent medical doctor Vivek Solanki, told the Daily News on Sunday that he received a call from one of his security guards at the institution, who had managed to hide himself in one of the rooms, alerting him of the armed robbers ransacking the place.
“There were about 12 to 14 armed robbers who popped up at the Trauma Centre at around 2:30am and tied my staff who were there with cable tiers. One of the guards, who had successfully hid himself, then called me and alerted me of what was happening at the centre.“My wife and I then drove to the Trauma Centre because we live close by. As we were getting closer to the Centre, we saw a group of men holding guns rushing into cars parked outside. I then flashed the headlights on my car hoping they would stop but they immediately got into three cars parked outside and sped off,” Solanki said.
Solanki immediately went on a high-speed chase after the suspected armed robbers who were fleeing from the scene.
“I drove after them in a high-speed chase and I rammed into a silver Fortuner which then rammed into another smaller car, a Vitz which had some of the armed robbers in it.
“The cars did not stop at first so I rammed into them again and they veered off the road and crashed and I also crashed.
“After that the robbers came out of their cars and started running. I got out of my car and I had sustained back injuries so I could not chase after them anymore. At that point, the caiman team had arrived at the scene being driven by my friend because we had alerted them and they said they didn’t have a car to respond. They used their dogs to track the armed robbers but they did not find them. I suspect that they had been picked up by another car,” he said.
Solanki further revealed that the suspected armed robbers had assaulted his staff and gotten away with six laptops, cellphones and an undisclosed amount of money.
“The armed robbers harassed my staff, assaulted and bruised them. They were ransacking the place yelling asking where the money was and where the safe was located. They got away with some money, about six laptops and cellphones.“This was all recorded in CCTV footage. It was such an organised crime because they tied my staff in cable tiers and the way they were walking around was as if they owned the place.“They were so comfortable and were not even wearing masks or balaclavas. Some of them were wearing hoodies and were not even concerned about being recognised. They only started running around when I arrived and began chasing after them,” Solanki said.
Solanki proceeded to seek medical attention for the injuries sustained during the car crash.
Recently, Solanki opened a new private coronavirus (Covid-19) centre which treats patients for free and has a capacity of 30 beds.
Recently, Solanki opened a new private coronavirus (Covid-19) centre which treats patients for free and has a capacity of 30 beds.
“The first privately funded and dedicated Covid-19 hospital is up and running in Milton Park. The hospital has 30 beds and 700 healthcare workers who have been trained in infection control and self-protection techniques, including the complex Donning and Doffing protocols against Covid-19.
“It is fully staffed with trained doctors and nurses with dedicated administrators and will conduct examination, treatment with admissions including a high care unit,” Solanki said recently.