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Midlands Bureau
The Gweru mine manager, who allegedly shot and injured two of his employees following a pay dispute at the company premises a fortnight ago, has been granted $10 000 bail by Masvingo High Court judge, Justice Garainesu Mawadze.

Zihang Xuelin (50), a manager at Reden Mine, is facing attempted murder charges after he shot one of his employees, Mr Kenneth Tichaona three times on both legs before shooting at by-standers resulting in a bullet razing through the chin of another worker.

He was denied bail on his initial appearance before Gweru magistrate, Mr Edwin Marecha.

Justice Mawadze, however, consented to bail and advised Xuelin to surrender his passport and reside at his Gweru Windsor address as part of his bail conditions.

Xuelin was also ordered to report every Friday at Gweru central police Station.

Xuelin yesterday again briefly appeared before magistrate Marecha and was remanded to August 6, 2020 for a trial.

The State case against Xuelin is that on Monday June 22, 2020 at around 11 am, the complainant, Mr Tichaona was among the 30 Reden Mine employees who gathered at the mine premises where they had a pay dispute with their employer.

The court heard that the employees were demanding to be paid in hard currency while the employer insisted on paying in local currency. This did not go down well with the employees, resulting in an altercation and mini-demonstration.

The employees led by Mr Tichaona then charged towards the accused who then fired two warning shots into the air but the group continued charging towards him, the court heard.

It is the State’s case that the accused then used the company pistol that was in his possession to shoot Mr Tichaona three times on both legs, resulting in him falling to the ground.

The accused again shot at the group of employees and a bullet grazed through the chin of one employee, Mr Wendy Chikwaira, the court further heard.

Mr Tichaona was later taken to a private hospital with serious leg injuries while Mr Chikwaira sustained a minor wound on the chin. Ms Mildred Mukucha appeared for the State.