Zimbabwean diamond dealer shot dead in own house

A WELL-known Marange diamond dealer - Blessing Chikwangura - was last week gunned down following a ruthless raid on his house in Kusena Village by two armed robbers who got away with $3 000 after pumping four bullets into his chest.

Chikwangura, who was popularly known as Tongo, died before he could be taken to hospital for treatment moments after the midnight attack.

Deputy Manicaland police spokesman Assistant Inspector Luxon Chananda confirmed the robbery and said the case was still under investigations.

Circumstances are that on the fateful day at around 11pm, the deceased received a phone call from an unknown number inviting him to come out of his house. He woke up and asked his wife Chioniso Sithole to close the door after he had left.

He got into his car, a Ford Range (ADY 6184), and drove towards Kurauone Primary School. After about an hour he came back home and parked his car in the yard. He called his wife to unlock the door and quickly got into the house and locked the door from the inside.

The two armed robbers peeped through the window and ordered the deceased to come out of the house but he refused.

In an instant, they went to the dining room window and broke all the window panes. They then used a wooden log to break the bedroom door and gained entry into the bedroom.

At that moment, the deceased was hiding behind a wardrobe while his wife hid in the bathroom.

One of the robbers hit the deceased on the head with a log while the other robber fired a shot towards the deceased. Chikwangura who was now armed with a machete managed to escape from the bedroom and he bolted out of the house through the main door which had been opened.

The two criminals then started firing more shots towards the direction the deceased had used. His wife escaped into the darkness with her four year old child.

The robbers who were now alone at the compound ransacked the house and stole $3 000 from a head board drawer and a Samsung Tablet.

They disappeared into the night.

Chikwangura was found about 20 metres away from his house in a pool of blood and he died immediately as efforts were being made to take him to hospital. However, police and army officers manning the diamond rich area under Operation Hakudozkwi arrived at the scene after they heard gunshots from a distance.

They carried out some checks but the robbers had long gone.