Gang robs Jo'burg nightclub
15/03/2009 16:11 - (SA)
Johannesburg - Seven armed men robbed a Johannesburg nightclub on Saturday, said its owner.
The gang stormed into the Roka nightclub in Milpark, Johannesburg at 21:30, said its owner Shakir Jadoo.
He initially thought it was a police raid. "These guys looked like cops," he said. "It looked like they were doing a raid."
But then the men began a**aulting the club's 185 patrons and ordered them to lie on the floor. "They threatened to kill people," said Jadoo.
The men were armed with R-1 rifles and handguns. They grabbed an employee and demanded to see the owner.
"He didn't know where I was and they were going to shoot him - like a sacrifice - to get [me] to come out," said Jadoo.
He then came forward and took the keys to the safe from his manager. One of the robbers took him into the back and forced him to open the safe.
"I told him I was shaking, I couldn't turn the key," he said.
"He cocked his gun and said that if I didn't open the safe he was going to shoot me in the head."
The men emptied the contents of the safe and stole cellphones and wallets from the customers.
Jadoo said he was hit on the head with the butt of a pistol and punched in the kidney. The robbers also beat another patron - a man visiting from Denmark - severely on the head.
This was the third robbery at the club, which is in the 44 Stanley Road building.
On January 15, thieves used an angle-grinder to break into a drop safe, without attracting the attention of building security.
PS... M better be careful at the next Party People.
