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Five arrested after robbery

Bloemfontein – Five people, three of them teenagers, were arrested after a Japanese photographer was robbed in Bloemfontein, police said on Thursday.

Colonel Sam Makhele said Tomayo Saito, 32, was on his way from the Free State Stadium to the Formula 1 Hotel after Japan's match against Cameroon when a man walked up to him and asked him the time.

"... The man grabbed the camera which was hanging around his neck, three camera lenses and a wallet with his travelling document in it, all to the value of some R120 000," said Makhele.

On Wednesday, police searched a house in Heidedal and arrested five people when they found the camera and three lenses taken from Saito.

Police said three of those arrested were 17-year-old youths.

They appeared in the juvenile court on Thursday morning and were in custody at the juvenile centre.

Two other men, Brandon Jansen, 33, and Almo Julius, 33, appeared in court on Wednesday night.

Jansen was expected to bring a bail application on Thursday. Julius would appear again with the others in the Bloemfontein Regional Court on Friday.

With Greece and Nigeria playing in Bloemfontein on Thursday, Makhele said the arrests should send a strong message that security forces were taking a zero tolerance approach to criminal activities surrounding the event.
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