Arrest of notorious robber divides police, judiciary

Gilbert Munetsi 

DIFFERENCES between the police and the judiciary have surfaced in Chitungwiza following the arrest of a notorious robber and his two accomplices.

The three were nabbed after a special operation.

They are accused of terrorising residents in the dormitory town.

A crack team from St Mary’s Police descended on a hideout for Tawanda Gwanyamwanya Mapuranga (alias Mbare), 39, in the early hours of Monday.

The team arrested him following a compilation of more than 12 dockets for crimes he allegedly committed around the town.

At his time of arrest, “Mbare” and his two accomplices had more pending cases in court, for which a warrant of arrest had been issued.

A number of complainants have since come through, claiming they are victims, while several stolen items were recovered.

The trio appeared at Chitungwiza Magistrates’ Courts yesterday and they were ordered to return to court today for bail determination.

The investigating officers had requested for more time, at least two weeks, for further investigations, including locating more complainants.

“There are no dockets yet before the courts because we are still working on them,” said some police sources.

“How then does the court expect to determine bail status when there are no sufficient documents to enable that to happen?

“It is a known fact that the accused terrorised residents who have lived in fear for a very long time.

“As custodians of the law, we took it upon ourselves to hunt them down with the hope they would be brought to book, but the decision by the court is extremely demoralising to our efforts.”

Mapuranga and his two accomplices Calvin Mariyani,38, and Pelagia Ndumbu,19, face six counts of robbery.

They are also facing charges of impersonating the police.