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Crime Reporter
TWO suspected armed robbers believed to have been targeting taxi drivers and committing a spate of other criminal activities in and around Harare have been arrested.
The two, aged 26 and 30 and coming from Marondera, were arrested in the capital’s Highlands suburb on Tuesday night after they allegedly attempted to rob a taxi driver they had hired from Chisipite Shopping Centre to Chishawasha.
Harare provincial police spokesperson Inspector Tadius Chibanda yesterday confirmed the arrests.
“On approaching the intersection of Enterprise and Wappelstone roads, one of the suspects, who was seated at the back seat, grabbed the driver from behind and produced a knife, at the same time ordering him to stop,” he said.
Insp Chibanda said the suspects ordered the driver to surrender all the cash he had, but he shouted for help prompting a vehicle which had been following from behind to stop.
“After noticing that there was a vehicle that had stopped, the two suspects jumped out of the vehicle and fled into a nearby bush,” he said.
A report was made at Highlands Police Station and officers searched for the robbers in the bush, but could not locate the two.
They were later spotted walking along Enterprise Road, heading towards the city centre and were arrested.
“We suspect that they could be linked to a spate of criminal activities that have been occurring in the Central Business District,” said Insp Chibanda.
“They are expected to appear in court soon once we have finalised our investigations.”
On Tuesday, police retrieved the body of a 31-year-old taxi driver who was found hanging from a tree along the Harare-Bulawayo Road in Kuwadzana.
Portifa Mutera of Dzivaresekwa was suspected to have been strangled using a cord made from strands of sack fibre before being hanged on a fig tree.
Mutera’s vehicle, a Toyota Noah, was found 500 metres away from his body, with its windows shattered.
Of late some pirate taxi drivers have fallen victim to robbers.
Online Reporter