Mozambican nabbed over Mutare robberies
POLICE have arrested a Mozambican suspect believed to be behind a series of high profile armed robbery cases that occurred in Mutare’s leafy low density suburbs in recent months.
Detectives from Mutare Central tracked down Smart Mukome in Mozambique’s Bairo Mugorirondo area of Manica Province using information from an active WhatsApp account of one of the robbery victims whose cell phone had been sold by the suspect.
Manicaland police spokesman Inspector Tavhiringwa Kakohwa said the arrest of Mukome will help solve a litany of outstanding robberies that were perpetrated on number 7125 Bordervale, 1 Zimunya Murambi, 552 Murambi East, 5 Alexander Borderview and 13 Flamingo Greenside.
The victims lost property worth thousands of dollars following the attacks.
“Mukome is one of the accused persons and detectives are still looking for his fugitive accomplices. Some of the stolen property has been recovered and the police are yet to recover more,” said Insp Kakohwa.
He said a stolen cell phone sold out the armed robber.
“What happened is that on January 3 one of the complainants, Noma Chiripasi of Number 7125 Borderville, discovered that the WhatsApp account on her stolen cell phone was being used on a Mozambican line. She tipped detectives about the case and the police officers tracked down the user. Our detectives went to Manica Province and arrested Pedro Amigo who was using the stolen cell phone. Upon his arrest Amigo told the cops that he had bought the cell phone from the suspect Mukome,” said Insp Kakohwa.
Mukome was subsequently arrested and brought back to Zimbabwe where he made some crime scene indications, showing how he and his accomplices robbed the houses.
He also led detectives to several hideouts in Mozambique where some of the stolen property was recovered.
In an unrelated robbery case, a rabid 10-member gang of armed robbers struck again last Monday morning and hit an Odzi supermarket.
This comes barely week after the same gang robbed a Mutare bus company of $30 000. The robbers, who were armed with a rifle and pistol, pounced on Masamvu Supermarket which is located at Odzi Business Centre.
They blew up a safe using detonators but were left disappointed after finding it empty. To make the heist worthwhile, the criminals shifted focus and stole various groceries, wrist watches and a closed circuit camera system which was installed in the shop.
Deputy Manicaland Police Spokesman Assistant Inspector Luxon Chananda confirmed the robbery.
Circumstances to the case are that on Monday morning at around 1am, Malvin Bumhira (34) who is employed as a security guard at the supermarket was on duty when he was approached by two of the robbers.
They were armed with a rifle and a pistol. The robbers ordered the guard to lie down before tying his hands from the back.
At that moment, six other robbers came out from the back of the shop and went straight to the entrance of the supermarket. They broke the padlocks using pick heads.
The criminals went into the shop and left one of them guarding the security guard. While inside they went to the office where there is a safe. They opened it after blasting the locking system using detonators. Nothing was stolen as it was empty.
The robbers then ransacked the shop and stole groceries and various wares.
Detectives attended and did crime scene investigations. A burnt detonating cable was recovered from the scene. Some fingerprints were uplifted from padlocks, doors and other surfaces.
Detectives handling the case revealed that the Odzi robbery was executed in a similar fashion with the Inter Africa heist hence police believe that the same gang was responsible for the two crimes.
“It’s a matter of days before we arrest these culprits. We have several leads and clues we are working on and believe me their days are numbered,” said a detective who could not be named citing protocol.
Last Saturday, an Inter-Africa security guard was left for dead after the same gang pounced on the bus company’s Mutare depot and got away with $30 000 after blowing up a safe using dynamites.