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Crime Reporter
Five farmers lost 33 tobacco bales and a pick-up truck after being attacked by armed robbers in separate incidents while on their way to auction floors in Harare.
This comes as police have been urging farmers to desist from transporting their tobacco at night and early in the morning, when they are vulnerable to armed robbers.
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi yesterday said farmers had not been heeding their calls.
“This is evidenced by a recent case where a tobacco transporter who was transporting 23 bales of tobacco using a Nissan Vanette truck stopped his vehicle to ask for directions and was attacked by suspects who were driving two vehicles with no registration number plates at 0200hrs on 20 June along Glen Eagles and Dagenham Roads in Harare,” he said.
Asst Comm Nyathi said the robbers assaulted the truck driver and two farmers with iron bars before one of them drove the truck to an unknown destination.
In a similar case, nine robbers who were driving a commuter omnibus robbed three farmers of their tobacco bales on Tuesday night.
The farmers, who were travelling from Mutare to the auction floors in Harare, had stopped near the intersection of Simon Mazorodze Road and Masotsha Ndlovu Way to attend to their Iveco Van which had developed a mechanical fault.
“The suspects cut a rope which was securing the bales and offloaded 10 bales into their vehicle before driving off,” Asst Comm Nyathi said.
“The ZRP reiterates its calls for tobacco farmers to travel during the day in order to safeguard their produce, while arrests have been made in the last two months with the cases before the courts.
“It appears the syndicate targeting farmers’ might be having inside information on farmers movements.”
Online Reporter