Clove Street in Laudium is no stranger to criminal activity and has become quite infamous for theft of vehicles outside resident's homes, as published in previous editions of the Laudium Sun.
In this latest incident, an Indigo Street resident was hijacked outside a friend's home on Clove Street, this past Tuesday evening (March 13) at around 7:30pm.
Speaking to the Laudium Sun, Jitesh Bhana of the Laudium Crime Alert group, said that a message was sent out, that a local resident had been hijacked on Clove Street, but when they tried to track the criminals by keeping an eye on exit points, their efforts proved unsuccessful.
Jitesh recalled, "I received an urgent message for help at a Clove Street home and when I responded, I learnt that the owner of the car, who had just been hijacked, was from Indigo Street. Many members of the community and myself then tried to cover all the entrances to Laudium in an effort to catch the criminals trying to escape with the hijacked Mercedes Benz. We were unfortunately not able to catch the thieves and after about two hours we called off the search and returned to Clove Street to ascertain exactly what had happened," Jitesh said.
He detailed, "The victim – Maseeha Mohideen – had come to Clove Street to fetch something from a friend's home and was accosted by two thugs armed with 9mm pistols. She got out of her car, leaving the keys in the ignition, after one of the thugs pointed his firearm at her. The criminal duo got away with Maseeha's C200, and were quickly followed by a red Polo with no registration," Jitesh added.
"I believe that these criminals were perhaps timing one of the homes on Clove Street and when they saw Maseeha, they decided to pounce on that opportunity. Nearby residents were alerted to the hijacking by Maseeha's screams for help, as she ran into the Gafoor home, outside where she had been parked. Residents should be more aware of their surroundings, especially when parked outside their homes with their vehicles still running, as this may make for easy targets for the criminals," Jitesh said.
Crime victim, Maseeha Mohideen told the Laudium Sun that she was left too traumatized after the incident and was not ready to comment as yet.
Jitesh Bhana was one of the first community members on scene, after the incident.
The spot (circled) on Clove Street where Maseeha Mohideen was hijacked this past Tuesday evening (March 13) at around 7:30pm.