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Tupeyo Muleya Beitbridge Bureau
For years, Taj Abdul known as Musa had become a headache for law enforcement.
He had branded himself as a slippery figure whose elusive capabilities were believed to be either supernatural or orchestrated from within the ranks of those who sought to capture him.
It took assistance from barking police dogs to apprehend Taj Abdul and his gang before they could inflict pain on another Zimbabwean.
Detective Assistant Inspector Joseph Chari who led the crack team that subdued Abdul said dogs from the ZRP canine section played a key role in delivering Zimbabwe’s most wanted criminal since the turn of the new millennium.
Detective Chari said immediately after receiving information on the presence of the gang in the town, they started thinking about the best way to handle the situation.
He had led a similar crack team in Midlands before going to Beitbridge, and immediately knew that he needed more than human manpower to pull the historic feat.
“I informed my superiors who gave me the blessing to assemble a crack team comprising of seasoned detectives, the canine unit (dogs section) and the support unit (police armed wing).
“We then sat down and mapped out a strategy to ensure that we surprise the gang since we understood that they could be heavily armed,” he said.
The team tracked the crew from Mashavire Business Centre where they had initially been spotted, close to the house which Abdul and his team had targeted.
To avoid detection, they used an unmarked vehicle (Nissan Caravan) to go to almost every business centre, drinking spots and food outlets after missing them at the first point.
“We finally located the car they were using as described by our informant. It was parked at a shop at Mashakadza Business Centre, though there was no one in the car.
“We then sent one detective in plain clothes to check on the car and then waited for 45 minutes until one of the suspects showed up.”
The police almost made a haste decision which would have jeopardised the work which was at hand, but experience saved the operation.
“At that point, some team members suggested that we arrest him immediately, but from my experience, I proposed that we track his movements so that we may account for the whole crew,” said Detective Chari said.
He said the team tracked the man until he got to the hiding house rented by Tapiwa Mangoma (a Beitbridge based police officer) where they arrested eight people including Taj Abdul.
How the crack team managed to pull off the capture was something movie scriptwriters may read with envy.
Police dogs formed the core of the dramatic story.
“Fortunately for us, the house has a parameter wall and we had deployed ourselves evenly around it. Some members entered via the gate.
Upon spotting us, some of the suspects who were sitting outside tried to escape but the dogs did not leave anything to chance, they pounced on them on sight,” Detective Chari said.
“As the drama unfolded, Taj Abdul (believed to be the mastermind) who had been inside the house pulled out a burglar bar, escaped through the window.
“He came through a corner where I was standing and we wrestled and I managed to overpower him with the aid of the police dogs,” said the diminutive Chari.
They managed to arrest eight people within the yard while two escaped.
According to the police, they have managed to arrest 245 people for various offences in Beitbridge between April and July from 15 crime scenes using six patrol and two drugs dogs (German shepherds).
The police said eight of those arrests involved armed robbers and those involved in cases of unlawful entry and theft.
One of the dog handlers who were part of Detective Chari’s team, Constable Cleophas Chikuni, said the dogs are trained every day so that they don’t forget their expected task.
“When we got to the scene we were fully prepared since we were dealing with armed suspects.
“Our dogs work strictly on instructions and in this case, we instructed them to disarm and subdue the suspects,” Cst Chikuni said.
He said two hero dogs were efficient in their role as aides to the police officers.
“On that day we had Dust and Ranger (dogs) which helped us to corner all those who wanted to scale the parameter walls. Taj Abdul was stopped in his tracks by our team leader and the two dogs which got all his legs,” said Cst Chikuni.
His counterpart, Constable Tafadzwa Hove (who was handling Ranger) said their dogs were well trained and that on Monday they did a wonderful job.
“We understand their language (dogs) and they strictly follow instruction.
“Part of our task was to disarm and subdue the suspects and this went according to plan.
“Besides having the back-up of the Support Unit, we also had pistols in case there was going to be a shoot-out,” he said.
The police officer commanding Beitbridge district, Chief Superintendent Tichaona Nyongo commended the crack team for following all necessary procedures and guidelines which saw them executing a successful operation.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police has a special department known as the Canine Training School which handles dog training.
The dogs have rank and the officer is paired with officers.
Like human officers, dogs retire and they are brought back to the kennels at the Canine Training School.
They keep them until someone applies to foster them.
The applications are approved personally by the Commissioner-General of Police after rigorous evaluations assessing the applicant’s suitability.
ZRP says that the dogs assist them in fighting crime and the recent ground breaking case bears testament.
Online Reporter