Mitengo criminals continue reign of terror

DARING criminals in Ndola’s Mitengo area on Sunday struck three household, dismounting a 2,500 litres water tank from a high stand at one homestead.

In the second incident, the criminals locked a family in their house by placing new padlocks on all outlets but fled after failing to get away with a vehicle.

In another attack, they attempted to open a Toyota Regius, but failed and only managed to get away with the battery and a wallet.

Surprisingly, the prowlers in the crime-ridden residential area stole an industrial block- making machine and residents wondered how the thieves

managed to lift the heavy equipment.

According to residents, the criminals were using a vehicle because a block-making machine was too huge to be hauled in any other carriage other than a van.

The area has experienced a series of housebreaking cases in the last seven months, without any arrests, even with constant reports and reminders to the nearby Chifubu police station. On Sunday, a family woke up to a rude shock after discovering that they had been locked inside with new padlocks by thieves who attempted to steal their vehicle.

The family struggled to break the locks in the morning and alerted the neighbours while in the other incident the criminals dismounted a water tank after draining water in the night.

“The thieves drained the water and then removed the tank from the stand. This is how bad Mitengo has become,” a resident who declined to be identified said.

Several residents have complained that the usually- serene residential area had been invade by thieves, some of them who had at one time offered services as care- takers on properties under construction.

The area which sits between the Ndola-Mufulira Road and Chifubu Township and extends to Kansenshi In-fill.

When contacted yesterday, Copperbelt Commissioner of Police, Charity Katanga, said she was aware of the criminal activities in Mitengo, stating that a police post would soon be constructed.

Ms Katanga said police patrols would soon start while the neighbourhood team would be strengthened to ensure that sanity was restored in the area.

Chifubu Member of Parliament Frank Ng’ambi, said that the law would soon visit the perpetrators.