Shrien Dewani held on suspicion of conspiring to murder wife
Businessman arrested over South Africa honeymoon death after voluntarily going to Bristol police station
The British widower of a tourist killed on honeymoon in South Africa is expected to appear in court today after voluntarily going to a Bristol police station last night where he was arrested by the Metropolitan police on behalf of South African authorities.
Dewani was accused of ordering her death by taxi driver Zola Tongo as he was sentenced for his part in the killing in a South African court yesterday. Dewani is due to appear at City of Westminster magistrates court.
Tongo pleaded guilty in South Africa yesterday to playing a part in killing Hindocha, and claimed that her husband, was the instigator of the murder.
In a confession read to the Western Cape high court, Tongo, 31, who has become a state witness in the investigation into the murder on 13 November, claims Dewani paid him 1,000 rand (about £92) for staging a car jacking that would end in the murder of his wife in a township.
But Tongo, who claims he had initially been offered 5,000 rand for organising the killing, was found guilty of kidnapping, robbery with aggravating circumstances, murder and obstructing justice. Judge John Hope sentenced him to 18 years in prison.
Two other suspects, Mziwamadoda Qwabe and Xolile Mngeni, have denied involvement and are being held at Pollsmoor prison near Cape Town. They are due to stand trial on 25 February.
Vinod Hindocha, Anni's 61-year-old father, left the court after the hour-long hearing supported by relatives. He wanted the case to be completed speedily because "each day in my life is torture".
The self-employed electrician from Sweden thanked people around the world who had sent condolences through Facebook. His daughter, an engineering graduate, was shot dead in Khayelitsha township two weeks after the Hindu marriage ceremony in Mumbai.
Dewani, who has hired the publicist Max Clifford, claims that the car the couple was travelling in was hijacked.
Clifford told Sky News yesterday his client thought the allegation that he was involved in his wife's murder was "absurd and obscene", and that he was "totally innocent of the horrendous crime".
Clifford said: "It's horrendous enough what happened, and to have this on top of it is an absolute nightmare. We have got reservations about what has been given as evidence today; let's see what evidence there is to back up these accusations."
Reading from the 20-page indictment, Rodney de Kock, director of public prosecutions for Western Cape, told the court: "The alleged hijacking was not a hijacking but part of a plan of subterfuge which Shrien Dewani and the accused [Tongo] had designed to conceal true facts, to wit that the deceased was murdered at the instance of her husband."
As Tongo stood in the dock with his head bowed, De Kock read his confession to the court. It said Tongo had been approached on 12 November by Dewani at Cape Town airport.
Tongo drove the couple to their hotel and, "after we arrived, Shrien Dewani approached me alone and asked me if I knew anyone that could 'have a client of his taken off the scene, a woman'. He said he was willing to pay an amount of 15,000 rand (£1,380)." In his confession, Tongo said he approached Monde Mbolombo, who put him in touch with Qwabe. Tongo claimed Mbolombo wanted 5,000 rand to arrange the killing, leaving 10,000 rand for the hitman or hitmen.
Tongo went on to say that on the Saturday night he took the couple to see sights in Cape Town before driving them to Gugulethu township, where Mngeni and Qwabe were waiting with shotguns. He said: "Qwabe got in at the driver's side and Mngeni got in at the back. The Dewanis were made to lie down on the back seat and Qwabe drove off.
"Shrien Dewani and I continued to pretend that we were being hijacked. Qwabe travelled for a short distance before he stopped and I was ordered to get out of the vehicle. I knew that Mngeni and Qwabe would not harm Shrien Dewani and that he would be dropped off at some further point."
The silver Volkswagen Sharan was found the next day in Khayelitsha township with Anni's body. She had been shot in the neck and was robbed of personal property worth £8,200 – a Giorgio Armani watch, a white gold and diamond bracelet, a handbag and a Blackberry phone.
Tongo's confession concluded: "I met with Shrien Dewani at the hotel on 16 November where I received 1,000 rand as payment for my role in [the murder]."
