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Masvingo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Tinaye Matake said the criminals, who are still at large, gained entry into the court premises after cutting the perimeter fence from the northern and eastern sides.
He said on Monday at about 7pm, police at Masvingo Central Police Station received a report from a security guard manning the court premises, Mr Never Gumbiti (46) to the effect that he had discovered fire coming from the court building, after which he alerted the Fire Brigade.
The Fire Brigade crew managed to extinguish the fire, which was burning court records in the Clerk of Court’s office.
Insp Matake said police attended the scene and preliminary investigations revealed that the criminals broke the emergency exit door using unknown objects and got into the accounts office before attempting to break the safe using explosives.
“In the interim, what we have gathered from preliminary investigations is that the thieves forced open the exit door at the court, proceeded to open the door at the accounts office where fines are collected.
“They tried to break the safe using unknown explosives but they failed in executing their mission. From there, they proceeded to the Clerk of Court’s office where they broke the door before setting court records on fire,” said Insp Matake.
He said police were still investigating the motive behind the crime and were appealing to members of the public with information that could lead to the culprits’ arrest to come forward.
“We are yet to figure out the motive behind the offence and the information will obviously help us to arrest the offenders.
“We are also appealing to the members of the public with information to help the police so that we can bring the culprits to book,” he said.
Online Reporter