By Munyaradzi Musiiwa
A senior police officer based in Mberengwa allegedly shot dead a civilian related to a suspect after he refused to disclose the whereabouts of the wanted man.
The officer (name supplied) from Mataga Police Station, who was in the company of other police officers, allegedly shot and killed Mr Moses Ndlovu at Gaha Business Centre in Mberengwa after he refused to disclose the whereabouts of Cephas Nkomo, a rape suspect.
Police then allegedly opened a sudden death docket stating that the officer had shot Mr Ndlovu by mistake in his line of duty.
On Wednesday when Mataga Police Station submitted a sudden death docket to Mberengwa resident magistrate Mrs Evia Matura in a bid to close the case, the magistrate said she could not just close the docket since “human error” had been cited in the death of Mr Ndlovu.
Mrs Matura ordered the police to re-open the case treating it as murder.
“The matter has been referred back to the police for further investigations on the matter. The deceased died from a gunshot wound and the matter is now being treated as murder,” wrote Mrs Matura to Mataga Police Station.
Acting Midlands Police Spokesperson Assistant Inspector Ethel Mukwende said: “I am not aware of the matter. We will have to get hold of the responsible station and find out if there is anything like that.”
However, a police source alleged that on the fateful day, a police officer who was in the company of fellow police officers went to Gaha Business Centre looking for Nkomo who was on the run.
“When he got to Gaha Business Centre, they saw Ndlovu who is related to Nkomo. Ndlovu refused to co-operate and ran away. He sought sanctuary in a shop.
“The police officers then forced open the door and one of them allegedly shot Ndlovu in the abdomen. He fell to the ground and started bleeding profusely. He later died due to the injuries he sustained,” said the source.
This incident comes barely a month after another police officer, Detective Constable Gift Gorongonya, shot and injured a soldier Corporal Zico Shumba in Gweru’s Central Business District (CBD) after he had tried to restrain him from pointing a gun at unarmed civilians. The Chronicle
