London, Feb 8 (IANS): One of the gunmen accused of killing an Indian woman on her honeymoon trip in South Africa has cast aspersion on the police claim that her husband might have plotted the murder.

Anni Dewani, 28, was murdered last year on the evening of Nov 13 after the taxi she and her husband Shrien were travelling in was hijacked as it passed through the Gugulethu township on the outskirts of Cape Town in South Africa.

Mziwamadoda Qwabe told police that, rather than being a planned hit, there was never any intention that she should die, the Daily Mail reported Tuesday.

In a confession made before detectives five days after Anni was shot once in the neck, the alleged murderer said: "We did not plan to kill her."

Qwabe's statement rebuts the claim by South African police that Anni's murder was planned, set up and paid for by her husband.

Instead, it paints a picture of a hijacking and robbery that went badly wrong.

The testimony also raises the prospect that Shrien Dewani is, as his spokesman claims, being set up for Anni's murder by police desperate to deflect attention from their country's sky-high crime rate.

Four South Africans have been arrested, one of whom - the taxi's driver Zola Tongo - has already admitted murder.

Qwabe, 25, and his alleged accomplice, Xolile Mngeni, 23, are said to be the two hitmen hired by Shrien Dewani for 1,300 pounds.

A court hearing in Cape Town last week was told that Qwabe confessed he was driving the hijacked car when Anni was shot.