adminChipinge Correspondent
THE long arm of the law finally caught up with two Beitbridge siblings who had stolen 534kg of TelOne cables in Chipinge and were jailed to 10 effective years each.
The duo, Luck Fayi (25) and Joseph Fayi (27) of House Number 3859, Dulibadzimu Township, Beitbridge, was on Wednesday convicted on their plea of guilty when they appeared before Chipinge magistrate Mr Makamera Waini. The duo’s alleged accomplices, Courage Dhauramanzi (27) who is a police officer stationed at Beitbridge District Headquarters and Tinevimbo Dube of Beitbridge pleaded not guilty and were denied bail. Representing the State, Mr Witness Nyamundaya said on November 10, around 3pm, the four hatched a plan to steal Tel-One cables and proceeded to Middle Sabi area along Ngundu-Tanganda highway using a Toyota Ipsum, Registration Number ADB2585 which was being driven by Luck Farai, who is the registered owner. “On November 11 around 8pm, the three, Joseph Fayi, Courage Dhauramanzi and Tinevimbo Dube were dropped by Luck and left to cut the cables.
“The trio then used a bolt cutter to cut the 750m of 10 spans copper cables which they rolled and ferried to Chipangayi Game Park. The accused then burnt the copper cables thereby extracting copper wires from the insulation.
“Middle Sabi TelOne employees were alerted of interruption of service after their telegraph lines were cut off. They started patrolling the affected area where they spotted the fire the accused had created in the bush. The TelOne employees advised police and they teamed up to proceed to the burning site. Upon arrival, the three bolted from the scene,” said Mr Nyamundaya.
Mr Nyamundaya said at around 5pm, Luck Farai started driving along Ngundu Tanganda Highway looking for his colleagues and when he was at ZESA Chipangayi Station driving his Ipsum slowly, Joseph Fayi and Tinevimbo Dube emerged from the game park and jumped into the vehicle. The three made a U-turn and drove towards Tanganda at slow speed looking for Courage.
“Police officers who were patrolling the affected area stopped and arrested Luck Fayi and Tinevimbo Dube, while Joseph managed to escape. A search of the vehicle was conducted and a police uniform as well as a police identity card was recovered. The two helped the police to arrest some of the suspect in Beitbridge,” he said. In sentencing the duo, Chipinge magistrate Mr Waini said the two committed a serious offence and a custodial sentence was vital.
Online Reporter