Kombi crew teams up with criminals to rob a passenger of US$480

A kombi crew in Harare is alleged to have teamed up with criminals to rob a passenger of US$480 in a case that has sent shivers down the spines of night travellers in the capital. 
The criminals, allegedly posing as commuters, took the victim to a secluded area in Waterfalls before hurling him out of the omnibus and sped off.
Police have since arrested the 18-year-old driver, Terrence Tawali, whose colleagues are still at large.
Tawali, of Mbare, appeared before Mbare magistrate Mr Stanford Mambanje last week facing a robbery charge.
Information gathered indicates the alleged robbery took place on the night of May 23 this year.
Tawali and four of his accomplices allegedly picked up Waterfalls-bound commuters along Simon Mazorodze Road. 
Among the commuters was the would-be victim, Mr Tendai Marowa.
Mr Marowa and Tawali's accomplices, who posed as commuters, were the only ones left on the omnibus after other passengers disembarked at their respective bus stops.
It is alleged one of the gang members deftly took Mr Marowa's US$480 from his pocket. 
He only alerted fellow "commuters" of the missing money much later into the journey.
It was at that point that Tawali allegedly stopped the vehicle, claiming they were changing course to avoid a police roadblock.
The driver's alleged accomplices then ejected their victim out of the omnibus and sped off.
However, Mr Marowa spotted Tawali in the central business district on June 29 and reported the matter to the police.
Mr Revai Mudozori prosecuted.
Meanwhile, an unlicensed commuter omnibus driver in Harare, who recently ran over a 10-year-old girl, extensively damaging her womb, has been jailed for an effective four years after being convicted of attempted murder.
Doctors removed the minor's womb, saying it was damaged and also hinted her kidneys were infected.
Mbare magistrate Mr Milton Serima presided over the case.
According to court papers, Allen Dera (28) of Highfield was driving along Mangwende Drive in the same area when the accident occurred. 
He lost control of the vehicle after he was distracted while talking to some girls who were walking along a cycle track. He then ran over the 10-year-old who was also walking close to the road, tearing her stomach and leaving her intestines exposed.
She was dragged underneath the vehicle for more than three metres. Dera later took her to a local clinic and left.
He was arrested at the Registrar-General's Department where he was trying to obtain an emergency travel document so that he could flee the country.
Investigations showed he had driven public transport vehicles for the past eight years without a driver's licence.
Mr Serima said driving a public transport vehicle without a licence endangered the lives of many people.
Mr Takambani Enesio prosecuted.