Highway robbers’ trial deferred

Thupeyo Muleya in Beitbridge
The trial of four notorious armed robbers who were recently arrested in connection with one case of murder and 26 others of robbery committed along the Beitbridge-Masvingo highway has been postponed to January 30.

The quartet had unleashed a reign of terror on motorists on the 40km radius along the Beitbridge–Masvingo and the Beitbridge-Bulawayo highways.

Two of the gang members, Taurai Gwande alias Tawanda Musekwa or Giant (30) and Boniface Mushavati alias Moyo were arrested in Mvuma and Masvingo on Christmas Day last year following a tip-off.

Their accomplices — Clive Shumba and Lehlohonolo Moyo — were arrested in November in the border town.

They are jointly charged with 26 counts of armed robbery, while Gwande and Mushavati are separately charged with one count of murder.

They were not asked to plead when they appeared before magistrate Mr Innocent Bepura last week.

Prosecutor Mr Foster Abheki said the gang committed the crimes between May 9 and December last year.

He said in most cases, the accused persons drove donkeys onto the road forcing motorists to reduce speed so as to avoid hitting the animals.

They would then puncture the vehicles’ tyres with sharp objects before pouncing on their victims.

The gang targeted cash, groceries, cellphones, lap tops and other electrical gadgets.

The court further heard that on December 19, Gwande and Mushavati allegedly killed a 29-year-old man who had been in the company of his girlfriend in a car parked near St Joseph Primary School in Beitbridge.

Luck ran out on them on Christmas Day when Gwande was arrested in Mvuma following a tip-off and this led to the arrest of Mushavati and the recovery of the stolen goods in Masvingo.

Police recovered two axes, a machete, some work suits, an iron bar and a torch which the gang used in committing the offences.

They also recovered seven solar panels, six amplifiers, six cellphones, two disco equipment speakers, one generator, two solar batteries, an assortment of groceries and clothing items.

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