Cops gave a suspected poacher the middle finger when he was shot and wounded in his right hand after allegedly knocking down an official.
The suspect managed to flee the scene near Sir Lowry’s Pass but was arrested hundreds of kilometres away when he tried to get medical help for his injuries.
The incident occurred when officials from the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Hawks tried to apprehend two vehicles transporting perly on Sunday evening.
“The one vehicle knocked an official. He responded by firing a shot at the vehicle and the suspect was wounded,” says a source close to the investigation.
The suspect managed to evade the cops but was bust in Bredasdorp after cops sent out an alert to hospitals to be on the look-out for a suspect with a gunshot wound.
“He was wounded in the hand and won’t be able to show the middle finger for a while,” says the source.
Meanwhile, officials arrested another suspect and confiscated 853kg of perly worth an estimated R1.3 million in one vehicle and 461kg of perly worth nearly R700 000 in the other bakkie.
Hawks spokesperson Captain Lloyd Ramovha confirmed the arrests.
“The suspect will appear on charges of the illegal possession of
abalone and attempted murder,” says Ramovha.