The manhunt for wanted criminal, Thabo Bester who staged a daring prison break in South Africa has ended after he was arrested in Arusha as he tried to sneak into Kenya.
Police who were on high alert after South Africa asked for international help pounced on Bester on April 08.
Bester – a convicted rapist, murderer and fraudster – faked his death and escaped his prison cell at the Magaung Correctional Centre in May 2022.
He was serving a life sentence made a daring escape from prison after faking his own death and was reported to have died in his cell after setting himself on fire.
He almost got away with it, but DNA analysis done on the charred remains established that the burnt remains were not Bester’s.
Realising that they had been duped, South African authorities launched an international manhunt to nab the wanted convict.
He was apprehended alongside this girlfriend and an accomplice who is a Mozambican national.
"We can confirm that escapee Thabo Bester with his accomplice Nandipha Maguduma along with a Mozambican national have been arrested in Tanzania late last night," South Africa’s Justice Minister Ronald Lamola announced following his arrest.
South Africa confirmed that it will send a delegation to Tanzania to facilitate the repatriation of the fugitives to face justice.
"We are confident we will receive maximum cooperation from our sister nation, Tanzania, to bring these fugitives to justice," added the statement.
Authorities are yet to reveal the identity of the person found burnt inside Bester’s cell and whether he was killed within the prison or not.