By Thupeyo Muleya
A TAXI DRIVER and an illegal forex dealer lost a vehicle, cellphones and cash to armed robberies in two separate incidences in Beitbridge.
Matabeleland South police spokesperson, Inspector Philisani Ndebele yesterday said the alleged crimes were committed on Thursday between 8PM and 9PM.
He said the suspects were still at large and police were appealing to anyone with information concerning the cases to contact any nearest police station.
“We are investigating two armed robberies which occurred in Beitbridge on Thursday evening,” said Insp Ndebele.
“The first crime was committed near Limpopo Lodge along the main road leading to Bulawayo around 8PM. Initial investigations indicate that four unknown men who were armed with a pistol hired one Nathan Zimura who was using his Toyota Passo as a metered taxi.
“Their intended destination is yet to be established, but along the way one of the suspects grabbed Zimura by the neck from behind while the one who was sitting in the front produced a firearm”.
He said the gang searched the man and took away a cellphone and $62 before ordering him out of his car and then drove away.
Insp Ndebele said at around 9PM on the same day, five gunmen pounced on a well-known forex dealer Tinos Gwarumba in the New Medium Density suburb.
“They approached him as he was getting to his yard and fired three shots, at the same time demanding money. He then submitted and gave them $300 and they went away. Both matters were reported to the police and we are yet to establish if they were perpetrated by the same gang,”said Insp Ndebele.
Of late forex dealers in the border town, especially those living in the New Medium Density suburb have become a target of armed robberies.
Recently, two foreign currency dealers in the same suburb were robbed of hundreds of dollars and then shot dead by a gang of armed robbers operating along the Limpopo River. The Chronicle
