adminWalter Mswazie Masvingo Correspondent
THREE female robbers and their two male accomplices pounced on a hardware in Masvingo and escaped in a get-away car with a cash box containing $750 meant for EcoCash transactions, police have confirmed.Masvingo police spokesperson Inspector Charity Mazula said the incident happened on Wednesday at around 9AM.
She said the trio was travelling in a Toyota Noah in the company of two men; including the driver.
She said police have since arrested the driver of the vehicle who is expected to appear in court in due course.
“Police have arrested one suspect, Honest Nhaviri of Mkoba, Gweru, in connection with the robbery. The females bolted out of the get-away car before disappearing into the bush at Exor, about 2km along Masvingo-Beitbridge road after the owner (of the hardware) gave chase,” said Insp Mazula.
“The shop owner, Oliver Baloyi, gave chase using his car and managed to block the suspects’ car. He apprehended the driver but the three females and one man escaped. A manhunt has since been launched for the suspects.”
Baloyi told Chronicle that the suspects got into his shop and he did not suspect anything as they masqueraded as customers.
“We opened the shop at 8AM as usual. At around 8.45AM a customer asking for EcoCash services came in and he made a cash-in transaction of $85,00. At around 9AM, I saw three innocent looking females and a man, all in their early 30s coming into the shop,” said Baloyi.
“One woman proceeded to the clothing department while the man went to the hardware side where I was and he made inquiries on a gas cooker that was on display. While I was concentrating on the man, one woman went to the EcoCash corner where she knelt down before standing. I saw her kneeling but didn’t see what she picked.”
He said while he was busy attending to the man, the three women rushed outside and the man followed, got into the car and sped off.
Baloyi said it was then that he realised that the woman had picked a cashbox containing money meant for EcoCash transanctions.
He said his brother who runs a shop near his hardware raised alarm when he realised that something was amiss.
“I saw their car reversing while I checked on the cashbox. It was when I realised that the money box was missing and quickly went out shouting, ‘thieves, thieves’, but unfortunately they sped off,” said Baloyi.
“My brother suspected that the group had stolen something from my shop. We then quickly got into my brother’s BMW car and gave chase until we caught up with the car that was going towards Beitbridge. We managed to block the car at Exor Garage and apprehended Nhaviri but his accomplices got out of the car and disappeared.”
Online Reporter