adminNqobile Tshili Chronicle Reporter
BULAWAYO police have launched an investigation into a case in which three officers are alleged to have thrown spikes at a motorist driving a BMW-X5 who was travelling with his four minor children last Friday.Police officers manning a roadblock at the intersection of 9th Avenue and Fife Street allegedly threw spikes in front of Gary Mushambavanhu’s vehicle resulting in a puncture.
Just after the incident, Mushambavanhu, who was taking his children who had a mid-term school break to Botswana for vacation, told Chronicle that he was going to sue the police for putting his family in danger.
He alleged that the police wrongly accused him of passing through a red robot.
The three officers who threw the spikes disappeared from the scene after apologising and promising to compensate him.
Police sources yesterday said the officers who threw the spikes face disciplinary action and the force has engaged Mushambavanhu to assist in identifying them.
Acting Bulawayo police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Abedinico Ncube yesterday said he could not comment on the issue as he was just returning from leave.
However, Mushambavanhu confirmed that the police had engaged him over the spikes issue.
He added that he had since established the names of two of the three police officers.
“Their bosses called me inquiring about the officers who threw spikes at my vehicle. Later on today (yesterday) I’m meeting up with the police so that I can give them the names of the police officers. We will also visit the scene to show them how it happened,” said Mushambavanhu.
He said he is in the process of engaging lawyers in an attempt to put an end to rowdy behaviour by some officers.
“I’m looking for lawyers who understand these things because we can’t continue tolerating this behaviour. The city is in the process of attracting investors. Do you think that investors would have stayed after that incident?”
In the past few months, police have come under fire for their continued use of spikes but their bosses have repeatedly denied that they throw spikes at moving vehicles.
Following a kombi accident that left 16 people injured in Bulawayo after spikes were thrown at it, national police spokesperson Chief Superintendent Paul Nyathi said police had stopped using the spikes.
The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights is taking legal action against police who were involved in the incident that threatened the lives of the 16 passengers.
derick.khumalo