The Chronicle

BULAWAYO, Saturday, February 3, 1968 — Det. Section Officer Patterson, of CID, Bulawayo, told a City magistrate yesterday that he found rifles, pistols and mine military–type packs containing explosives, anti-personnel mines, hand grenades and ammunition at various places in Rhodesia. He was giving evidence at a preparatory examination into an allegation of possessing arms of war, or alternatively possessing offensive materials at which nine Africans are appearing. The men appeared in the dock in leg irons and under strict security.

The Senior Public Prosecutor, Mr Ian Carlisle, told the magistrate, Mr J Redgement, that the Crown accepted that one of the Africans was 16. He asked for the court to be cleared. Mr Redgement ruled that the names of the men, the dates and places and the identity of political parties mentioned in the evidence should not be published.

D/S/O Patterson said he took possessions of four ruck sack type packs containing hand grenades, anti-personnel mines, explosives, detonators, fuses, igniters, magazines for two types of pistol and a large quantity of ammunition.

He went to a place by helicopter and took two men into custody. A European made a report to him about the arrest of two men before the court and said that at the time each had a pistol concealed on his person.