POLICE are looking for 17 armed men who were part of a gang that robbed five shops in Brakpan yesterday.

POLICE are looking for 17 armed men who were part of a gang that robbed five shops in Brakpan yesterday.

Police spokesperson Constable Tsietsi Lamola said about 20 armed men in a minibus and two sedans stormed the VC Spar shopping centre in Dalview.

Divided into five groups, the men robbed two supermarkets, a pizza shop, a video shop and a liquor store of an undisclosed amount of money and cellphones.

No shots were fired during the robbery but a man suffered minor injuries after being hit by a pistol on the head.

The gang fled in three vehicles with police hot on their heels. Three men were arrested near the Gosforth toll plaza on the N17 highway, where gang members had shot dead a motorist during an attempted hijacking.

Lamola said the police also recovered three firearms and the three men will be charged with business robbery.