JOHANNESBURG - Senior Crime Intelligence official Ismail Dawood will remain in custody until Friday after the Johannesburg magistrate’s court postponed his formal bail application.
He handed himself over at Hillbrow Police Station after being wanted on extortion and assault charges.
The State says it needs more time to complete outstanding investigations; a move Dawood’s legal has slammed as malicious.
Dawood faces assault and extortion charges linked to a R3.5-million debt allegedly owed to his family.
The matter was postponed after the State said it was not ready to proceed with his formal bail application.
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Prosecutors told the court they needed more time to verify Dawood’s address and check for previous convictions or pending cases before bail proceedings could continue.
Dawood’s legal team fiercely opposed the postponement, accusing the State of acting with malicious intent. They say the application is aimed solely at keeping him behind bars.
“It is absolutely ridiculous. The accused before court is a police colonel attached to Crime Intelligence, in charge of the kidnapping unit with 25 years' experience. It is ridiculous of the state to say that they have to check his criminal record," Piet du Plessis, Dawood's advocate, said.
Du Plessis added:
"He has no previous convictions and no pending cases. I would be astonished if he had and he was permitted to be in charge of such an important task of combatting kidnappings in this country."
His legal team maintains this is a private civil dispute.
Before proceedings concluded, Dawood successfully requested to be detained at the Sandton Police Station rather than Hillbrow, citing safety concerns.
- eNCA's Nabeelah Shaikh reports.