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Thandeka Moyo Chronicle Correspondent
POLICE investigating the execution of four people in Binga have arrested three suspects and shot dead a fourth. Police say investigations so far show that Sithembinkosi Moyo, 43, Alvin Canitious Nyirenda, 28, Nkosana Mdlongwa, 38, and Leo Mthulisi Ndlovu, 34, were killed on January 6 in a “botched ivory deal”.
Last night, police confirmed that a crack team of CID detectives was on the verge of bringing closure to the quartet’s families with the announcement of the arrests.
A former Rhodesian police officer, Sinola Jameson Dube, 57, Hardlife Dube, 20, both from Mabobolo Village and Robert Muleya, 31, from Kamativi, are in custody after a series of police raids across Binga.
A fourth suspect, Emmanuel Dube, 30, also of Mabobolo Village, was shot dead after police marksmen cornered him at Siansundu Business Centre as he walked in the direction of Siansundu Secondary School. He was carrying a rifle, and when detectives ordered him to stop, he fled and fired shots at them.
Emmanuel, the son of suspect Sinola Jameson, was shot on his left thigh and died a few hours after being admitted at Binga Hospital.
National police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba said at his home, detectives found a thick smelly white substance in a plastic bottle, a bangle made from porcupine (inungu) quills, a cellphone, four SIM cards, blood-stained clothes and $250 cash.
The brutality of the Binga murders have shocked a nation. Robson Mudenda, 39, who lives in Lumbu Village under Chief Dobola in Binga, was on his way to work on January 6 shortly after 8AM when he noticed a white Isuzu double-cab truck which appeared to have fallen off the Ngongonye River Bridge on the Kariangwe-Lusulu Road to Binga Centre.
The shopkeeper called the police to report a traffic accident – sparking a quadruple homicide investigation after police discovered four bodies, all of them with gunshot wounds.
The only female victim, Moyo, from Bulilima, was found inside the Isuzu truck with two gunshot wounds to the head and chest. Her skull had been cracked open and her brains were missing. She had her Motorola cellphone on her.
Ndlovu’s body was found about 1km from the scene. Police first found his head, and then the lower part of his body with his hands still tied behind. He had been decapitated in the most savage way. His eyes, nose, ears and lips had been sliced off.
Nyirenda was found lying on the back seat of the Isuzu with several gunshot wounds on the head and chest, while Mdlongwa was trapped under the car’s loading box and had two gunshot wounds to the head.
Police have interviewed Moyo’s husband, Jericho Sibanda, who said his wife left home on January 2 in the company of the three men to Binga to buy fish for resale.
Investigators say sometime in 2008, Sinola Jameson Dube – a former member of the British South Africa Police (BSAP) – was arrested by Binga police for killing 13 elephants. He was also found in possession of a rifle.
He was acquitted on the poaching charge but jailed for 12 months with hard labour for unlawful possession of a firearm. A year later, his son, Emmanuel, was also arrested for attempted murder after stabbing a man in Binga. He was jailed for three years.
Online Reporter