Armed robbers get away with gold, $4 600

The four, who are still at large, masqueraded as police officers before assaulting Mr Kaison Taruvinga at the gold mining site and taking away the money and gold.
The police spokesperson for Matabeleland South, Sergeant Loveness Mangena, said the four men were armed with a pistol when they pounced on the mining site.
“At about 3am on Saturday, four unknown men, who were armed with a pistol went to Clemont Stamping Mill in Fort Rixon and knocked at one of the workers’ place of residence, Mr Lindani Mafu.

“They claimed that they were police officers and Mr Mafu opened the door for them,” said Sgt Mangena.
“They ordered Mafu to show them the manager’s house and he complied.”
Sgt Mangena said when the robbers got to Mr Taruvinga’s house, they knocked and ordered him to open the door.

“Mr Taruvinga refused to open the door for them but they told him that they were police officers and threatened to shoot if he kept them waiting. Mr Taruvinga was later forced to open the door when the men told him that they were in the company of his subordinate, Mr Mafu.
“When Mr Taruvinga opened the door, they immediately force-marched him to his office where they demanded keys to the safe. They unlocked the safe and took 56 grammes of gold, R10 000 and $800, all amounting to $4 600,” said Sgt Mangena.

She said the robbers then dragged Mr Taruvinga to a nearby bush where they tied him to a tree using shoelaces and severely assaulted him before disappearing with the gold and the money.

“Mr Taruvinga sustained serious injuries in the head after being assaulted by the robbers and a report was made to the police in Fort Rixon, who attended to the scene.
“No arrests have been made so far but investigations are still in progress,” said Sgt Mangena.
She urged members of the public to verify the identity of people who approach them claiming to be police officers, before allowing them into their premises or search their property.

“I would like to encourage members of the public to be wary of robbers who pretend to be police officers with the intention of robbing and harming them. Police officers are supposed to have identity cards and it is everyone’s right to ask for the identity cards from anyone who claims to be a police officer,” said Sgt Mangena.