About 5 Mogoditshane police detectives were last Monday detained after they allegedly tortured and hanged a suspected criminal who was in their custody.
It is said that last Wednesday about five detectives, under an operation unit called “Batshware”, meaning ‘arrest them’ and led by the former security intelligence service, commonly known as “SIS”, which gave birth to the Directorate of Intelligence Security a year ago, arrested Jordan Setlapoloka, a 29-year-old man who was among the wanted suspects on a police list.
The suspect was allegedly brutally tortured during interrogation.
On realizing that the suspect had died, they allegedly took him to Senamakola Lands near Gabane Village and hanged him and passersby allegedly saw the man hanging from a tree on August 1 then reported to the police.
On arrival, it is alleged that the police were suspicious of the numerous footprints on the scene and believed that the deceased might have being hanged by unknown people and they called their seniors.
In a press statement issued yesterday, the Police Commissioner, Thebeyame Tsimako, ordered investigations into the circumstances that led to Setlapoloka’s death.
The press statement stated that the deceased was wanted by the police for failing to honour all bail conditions imposed on him by the Mahalapye Magistrate Court in an armed robbery case.
It further said that he was also linked to another armed robbery that occurred in Mmopane Village.
The Public Relations Officer of the Botswana Police, Assistant Commissioner Christopher Mbulawa, said that he could not say how many police officers are implicated since investigations had only just begun.
A few months ago, the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department, Wilmon Karahindi, called his detectives to the Special Support Group Hall and warned them about torture.
