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Crime Reporter

FIFTEEN robbers, including a woman, who were armed with machetes and hammers, raided a family in Manyame Park in Chitungwiza early yesterday morning and got away with US$40 000, $20 000, cellphones and a pistol.

The gang first assaulted a security guard who was guarding the house before they gained entry into the house.

They then blasted with a dynamite, a window to the complainant’s bedroom before attacking him and his wife while demanding cash.

Police said the robbers stole the cash, six cellphones, a pistol with an empty magazine, car keys for an Isuzu KB300 and a Honda Fit vehicle before disappearing.

A report was then made to the police who are still investigating the case.

National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the incident.

“The ZRP is investigating a robbery case which occurred in Chitungwiza on March 29, 2022, where 14 unknown men and a woman, who were armed with machetes, knobkerries and hammers pounced on a house in Manyame Park and assaulted the security guard who was on duty at the premises.

“The suspects blasted the complainant’s bedroom window with dynamite and attacked the complainant who was in bed and demanded cash.

“They stole US$40 000, $20 000, six cellphones, a pistol with an empty magazine, car keys for an Isuzu KB300 and a Honda Fit vehicle,” he said.

He said a manhunt for the suspects has since been launched.

In a related case, police in Kariba are also investigating a robbery case which occurred at Baobab Ridge in Kariba on Monday at about 6:30am when five unknown suspects who were armed with an unidentified pistol and a suspected UZI SMG, pounced on a local business man’s residence and held hostage nine complainants.

They stole US$16 060 cash, five cellphones, a Garmin running watch, 20×20 Newbury brand cigarettes, four 750ml bottles of whiskey and a Honda CRV vehicle before locking the complainants inside the house.

The two incident comes after cases of armed robberies have been on the increase countrywide, with criminals targeting people who keep large amounts of cash in their homes.

Meanwhile, police have urged members of the public to properly secure their firearms and only use them for the purpose they are registered for.

This follows a case of theft of a firearm that  occurred at Civic Centre in Marlborough on Sunday night where a 33-year-old man lost his Star pistol with a magazine of six rounds after he left the firearm in a vehicle while drinking beer at a nearby bottle store.

Police are also appealing for information which may lead to the arrest of a commuter omnibus driver and his conductor who allegedly gang raped a 20-year-old woman in Ushewokunze area, Harare on Sunday after giving her a lift around 6pm.

The suspects who were driving a white kombi had offered the victim a lift at Mbudzi Roundabout area.

In another case, police are investigating circumstance surrounding a suspected murder case in which a body of an unknown man was found lying in a bushy area at Zone 1, Hopley in Harare.

The body has since been taken to a local hospital mortuary for a post mortem.