Three KwaZulu-Natal police officers in key arms of the SA Police Service (SAPS) have been arrested for the alleged torture and murder of a man in police custody.
The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) said on Monday that they had arrested one police officer from the Muden detectives and two from Greytown Crime Intelligence for murder, defeating the ends of justice and assault.
Giving details of the allegations, IPID spokesperson Moses Dlamini said that on August 2, the detective and Crime Intelligence officers had been interrogating three people in connection with a murder case.
"The three suspects were detained, tortured and assaulted inside Muden [police] cells until one of the suspects succumbed to his injuries and died. Then the police orchestrated a plan to dispose of the deceased's body by dumping it in nearby bushes. They did not report the incident to their superiors," he alleged.
Dlamini said the family of the deceased reported him missing at the same police station after he didn't return home.
"The police told the family that the deceased had been released on the same day after questioning. A family member reported the matter to the IPID's KZN office. A task team was formed and worked around the clock and over the weekend."
Dlamini said the team arrested the officers on Sunday.
They are expected to appear in the Greytown Magistrate's Court on Wednesday.