Omega Sibanda robbery gang busted

FOUR armed robbers, three of them hardened criminals with previous convictions, who on Monday allegedly broke into businessman Omega Sibanda's offices and stole property valued at more than $25,000 have been arrested.

The suspects had sold most of the stolen property for a song and burnt part of the loot which they thought could be easily identified.

They were arrested in Makokoba suburb barely 24 hours after committing the crime and have been linked to a number of unlawful entry and theft cases that happened in the city centre during the early hours of Monday morning.

The gang was reportedly armed with sticks and stones when they assaulted a security guard, Charles Mavingire, before tying him up at Sibanda's office along Herbert Chitepo Street and Connaught Avenue.

They burnt most of the T-shirts belonging to SW Radio that they looted from Sibanda's office because they were branded.

Police sources close to investigations identified three of the suspects by their first names as Bruce, Kuda and Khuzwayo. The suspects allegedly went on a house-breaking spree on Monday, also breaking into Crazy 'n' Cool Hair Salon and Boutique along 10th Avenue where they stole 130 pairs of shoes, handbags, clothing, earrings, bangles and three hair clippers all valued at about $6,000.

They also reportedly struck at a house in North End suburb on the same day. "Kuda looks like a first time offender while his three colleagues have previous convictions that include rape, assault, unlawful entry and theft," said one of the sources.

The gang allegedly sold six expensive suits that they stole from Sibanda's office for $5 each to unknown passersby. "They sold two boxed Samsung S4 phones for $10 each, sets of stainless steel cooking pots worth more than $1,000 for only $15. They threw a Dell desktop computer containing SW Radio databases into polluted Mazayi River saying it had become too heavy. They also lost some of the loot at a gambling school," said a source.

The gang was reportedly arrested after they went on a beer binge at Gijima Nite Club in the city.

Sibanda could hardly speak as he showed Chronicle ash from some of the T-shirts that were burnt by the gang in a bushy area between Amakhosi Cultural Centre and St Columbas High School in Makokoba.

"They burnt two sets of FC Windermere Football Club uniforms and about 1,000 branded T-shirts belonging to the radio station simply because they said they thought they would be easy to trace. If they had just thrown them away, we could have recovered them," he said.

Sibanda heaped praises on the police for arresting the gang barely 24 hours after the robbery at his office.

Sithokozile Noe Mayisa, who runs Crazy 'n' Cool Hair Salon and Boutique, said the gang wiped out her stock. "They broke a connecting door at Business Environment Services (BES) College to gain entry into the salon.

"They then ransacked the salon. I now have to start from scratch. Police have arrested them but they did not recover much," said Mayisa.

The gang is expected to appear in court soon.

Acting Bulawayo police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Abedinico Ncube could not be reached for comment yesterday.

On Tuesday he said he was not aware of the arrests.