adminMarvelous Moyo Gwanda Correspondent
A GOLD dealer was found dead on a dusty road in Gwanda town yesterday morning in a suspected case of murder, police confirmed.
A relative identified the man as Petros Sibanda.
His body was found on a dusty road close to Spitzkop North Extension.
Some small scale miners in the town said Sibanda was in the business of buying and selling gold and they suspect that he could have been ambushed by people who wanted to rob him of money.
“Yesterday (Tuesday) evening Sibanda had collected a sum of 10,000 rands from a business partner at Phakama business centre,” said one of the miners who preferred anonymity. “There is a possibility that some people saw him with the money or knew he had such a huge amount of money and waylaid him on his way home. We believe he was killed because of that money.”
However, another miner said by the time Sibanda was allegedly killed, he had already given the money to some small scale miners he worked with.
“We understand he no longer had the money when he was killed. He had used it to pay some of his workers,” said the miner.
Sources who attended the scene said Sibanda had a deep cut on the head, which was likely to have been caused by a sharp object and the possibility was that he could have died of internal head injuries.
They said two cellphones were recovered and kept ringing beside Sibanda’s body.
Meanwhile, residents blamed lack of streetlights to increased incidents of mugging and crime in Gwanda.
Matabeleland South provincial police spokesperson Inspector Philisani Ndebele confirmed the murder but could not comment saying investigations on the matter were in progress.
Online Reporter