News24 reports that Free State police are looking into a possible extortion syndicate after arresting a second police officer this year for allegedly accusing innocent men of rape and then demanding money to quash the non-existent cases.

Constable Mosimanegape Samuel Seleke, 35, is the second police officer to be arrested following an incident in which he and his accomplices allegedly accused a man of raping a woman. According to police spokesperson Captain Stephen Thakeng, the man was threatened with arrest, and told that the sentence for rape would be 25 years if he did not pay R100,000. "The victim was then forced to the bank, where money was transferred to the given bank account," Thakeng indicated. A case of extortion was registered and assigned to the provincial Anti-Corruption Unit, which led to the arrest of Seleke on 16 August. Seleke, who is attached to the Thabong Visible Policing Unit, appeared in the Welkom Magistrate's Court on Wednesday on a charge of extortion. He was granted bail of R1,000 and is set to appear in court on 31 August. Thakeng said the constable was part of a syndicate operating in the area, in which information was sourced about the victims and they were then followed around, after which the extortion demand took place. In a similar case, a female Meloding police officer and a 29-year-old woman were arrested earlier this year when they were caught using the same modus operandi. The female offer was dismissed from the police force and is still in custody.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Zandile Khumalo at News24

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