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Nokutenda Chiyangwa Herald Reporter
Two more people have been arrested in connection with a case in which 11 armed robbers pounced on a Harare company and stole close to $2 million in cash stashed in sacks and boxes and went on to buy luxury vehicles and rent houses in affluent suburbs.

Wilson Manyara (30) and Joseph Ndigo (38) yesterday appeared before magistrate Ms Tilda Mazhande, facing armed robbery charges.

Their alleged accomplices Godfrey Josi (38) and Taurai Dzingai (46), appeared before the same magistrate on Tuesday facing the same charges.

They were all remanded in custody to April 24, with instructions to apply for bail at the High Court.

The rest of the gang is still on the run.

The court heard that the robbers, who were heavily armed, manhandled security guards that were manning PHI Commodities in Aspindale.

They assaulted and handcuffed the guards and stole the money and seven laptops.

Police recovered $8 632 from Dzingai’s house and a silver Mazda CX7 that he bought a day after the robbery.

After committing the offence, some of the suspected armed robbers changed homes and moved to affluent suburbs.

Prosecutor Ms Linda Gadzikwa alleged that on April 2 around midnight Josi, Dzingai and their accomplices hatched a plan to rob PHI Commodities at 17 Foundry Road, Aspindale in Harare.

They drove to the place while armed and parked their getaway vehicle outside.

They jumped over the precast wall and gained entry into the premises before pouncing on Cephas Kisimesi and Cephas Chiutawo, who were guarding the premises.

They assaulted the two guards and forced them to lie down before they handcuffed them.

Two of the suspects were left guarding them.

The other robbers proceeded to the office complex where they looked for cash and valuables.

It was alleged that they accessed strong room keys and stole seven laptops.

They then used explosives to open another room where they allegedly found sacks and boxes full of $2 and $5 bond notes amounting to $1 799 960.

They loaded the cash into their vehicle and sped away.

On April 8, the police received information that the gang went to their accomplice Edson Sydon’s house in Seke and shared the money and a raid was carried out by the police.

The court heard that on April 9, when Manyara and Ndigo arrived at Sydon’s homestead, the police were already waiting for them and they ordered them to stop, but Josi sped off.

Josi immediately vacated the house he was renting and moved to an uptown apartment.

He was later arrested following a tip-off and implicated the other suspects.