Thieves raid 20 vehicles in two days
ABOUT 20 vehicles have been broken into in Mkoba suburb in Gweru by a suspected group of thieves targeting car radios, batteries and other valuables from cars.
It is not clear what the thieves are using to by-pass vehicle alarm systems. At least 15 vehicles were broken into on Tuesday night while a further four met the same fate the following day. Police have since embarked on a door to door campaign in the area especially in Mkoba 13, 14 and 16 which were most affected.
Midlands acting police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Ethel Mukwende confirmed the robberies but said they were still to get full details from the responsible police station.
“I can confirm receiving such a report but we are still to get the full details from the respective police station,” she said.
However, sources close to the matter told Sunday News that the suspected ring was highly sophisticated, breaking even into alarm system-installed vehicles.
“These robbers must be highly technical and must be travelling with a truck. They break into a car by smashing quarter glasses.
“After getting access, they search for valuables, take away the radio and car batteries. Some of the vehicles that were broken into had alarms,” said a police source.
“They have a mechanism of jamming the alarm so that it doesn’t trigger.”
One of the victims, Mr Edgar Ncube from Mkoba Village 13 said he lost two batteries when the suspects pounced on his parked Pajero on Monday night.
“My car uses two batteries, I had to be awoken by a neighbour who realised that the quarter glass of my car had been smashed. I later realised that the two batteries and my car radio were missing,” he said.
Mr Ncube said he learnt that there were many cars that had been broken into that night.
“I made a police report at Nehanda Police Station and realised that I was the 11th complainant of the same nature that day,” he said.