adminPamela Shumba Chronicle Reporter
ARMED robbers believed to be operating as an organised syndicate pounced on SonMart and RohMart supermarkets in Bulawayo and went away with over $59,000 on Sunday night.SonMart, situated in Nkulumane and RohMart along Fort Street, between Leopold Takawira and 6th Avenue, are owned by prominent Bulawayo businessman Raj Modi.
When Chronicle visited the RohMart Supermarket yesterday, police were attending to the scene while shocked workers looked on.
In an interview, Modi said a gang of armed robbers broke into RohMart through the roof, while another group broke into SonMart through the back door and went away with $59,054.56.
“The robbers broke into the two shops just after midnight. They disconnected the alarm system and closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras before they broke in. At RohMart they got in through the roof and stole $37,186.69 from the cash office,” said Modi.
“At SonMart, the robbers broke in through the back door, took a total of $21,867.87.”
He added: “The money that was stolen was collected on Saturday and Sunday and it is quite a lot of money. This is not the first time that we have experienced robberies at our supermarkets and I hope the robbers will be brought to book.
“So far we have no clue how the robbers managed to tamper with the security systems in the shops. We have since made a report to the police and they are investigating,” he said.
One of the workers at RohMart, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they observed that there was a break-in soon after opening the supermarket in the morning.
“We only discovered in the morning that there was a break-in during the night. The robbers disconnected the security systems, came in through the roof, broke the ceiling and stole money from the safe. We were shocked to hear that the same thing happened at the other shop in Nkulumane,” said the worker.
Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Mandlenkosi Moyo yesterday said he was yet to receive the report.
Online Reporter