Online Reporter
Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
FOUR robbers who terrorised commuters by using a Honda Fit to pose as public transport operators before robbing passengers and abandoning them were arrested yesterday in Odzi, near Mutare.
Acting Manicaland provincial police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Wiseman Chinyoka confirmed the arrest of George Nenhunzi (29), of No. 598 Hobhouse, Mutare; Fungai Muuduri (29), of Number 1422 Dangamvura Destiny, Mutare; Wayne Ndiweni (23), of Number 336 New Dangare, Sakubva, Mutare; and Vincent Chele ( 34), of Number 34 New Dangare, Sakubva, Mutare, on theft charges.
The quartet was arrested at about 1200 hours at Riverside, Odzi.
Assistant Inspector Chinyoka said at about 10am, John Makina (38), of West Valley, Nyazura, and Tapiwa Chiwanza (45), of Nyazura, boarded the accused persons’ grey Honda Fit (AFI 0191), at Mt Mainje bus stop, bound for Christmas Pass.
On reaching Osborne turn-off, the accused told the two complainants that their vehicle had developed a mechanical fault and was no longer going to Christmas Pass. They were told to disembark.
After getting out, the complainants realised their cell phones — a Samsung A04s and Samsung A03 — had been stolen.
Chiwanza hired a motorbike and followed the vehicle. He intercepted it at Riverside, along the Mutare- Harare Highway, after it broke down and demanded the return of the phones, which were handed back to him.
Suspicious, Chiwanza alerted people at Riverside, who cordoned off the accused.
He then reported the matter to ZRP Odzi by phone. Officers responded swiftly to the scene, arrested the four, and recovered 11 stolen cell phones, six balaclava masks, and an empty pepper-spray container from the vehicle.
The accused were taken to ZRP Odzi Police Station, where they are assisting police with investigations.
The case was recorded at ZRP Odzi and will be transferred to CID Mutare for further investigation, as they are linked to several robbery cases in Manicaland.
