News / National
Bogus soldier nabbed along border
05 Jun 2013 at 10:33hrs | Views
A BOGUS soldier, clad in army regalia and brandishing a fake home-made AK 47 assault rifle will forever rue the day he waylaid an illegal border jumper after he got a thorough hiding when his cover was blown off.
The incident happened on Monday. Talent Harare (22) of Musa Village under Chief Marange is facing two counts of attempted robbery and that of impersonating an army officer for allegedly demanding a $100 bribe from a suspected border jumper he pounced on in a bushy area near Forbes Border Post.
He cornered Solomon Dumbamuromo (29) from Chikanga to pay him the $100, failure of which he threatened to arrest him for flouting immigration laws.
Assistant Manicaland police spokesman, Assistant Inspector Luxon Chananda, said a disturbed Dumbamuromo phoned his two friends for assistance.
"His friends arrived and wrestled with the bogus soldier and managed to capture him. They took him to Sakubva Police Station," he said.
The imposter was referred to the Criminal Investigations Department as detectives wanted to establish the depth and extent of his illegal operations.
Officers handling the case revealed that Harare had pounced on several unsuspecting border jumpers and smugglers.
"To ordinary people who do not know army outfits, his dressing was very misleading. The AK 47 fake rifle summed it all and he used it to frighten as well as make people believe that he was on duty.
"He had done his homework well especially with regard to how he made the rifle from cheap wood and scrap metal and we believe many people might have been robbed of their hard earned cash by this fraudster," said a police source.
Officer Commanding Mutare Central District police, Chief Superintendent Winston Muzah, warned people to be wary of conmen who pretend to be genuine law enforcement agents.
From a distance, the fake AK rifle seemed genuine.It has a rubber magazine which was tied to the main frame by a wire and appears genuine.
The barrel was made from a steel tube attached to the main wood body with nails.A grey string acted as the carrier.
Police are appealing to anyone who might have been robbed by Harare to report to the nearest police station.
The area along the Forber Border Post is a beehive of smugglers of secondhand clothes and banned whiskies.
The country is losing thousands of dollars in tax revenue as a result of corruption that occurs between the smugglers and law enforcement agents that patrol the area.
The incident happened on Monday. Talent Harare (22) of Musa Village under Chief Marange is facing two counts of attempted robbery and that of impersonating an army officer for allegedly demanding a $100 bribe from a suspected border jumper he pounced on in a bushy area near Forbes Border Post.
He cornered Solomon Dumbamuromo (29) from Chikanga to pay him the $100, failure of which he threatened to arrest him for flouting immigration laws.
Assistant Manicaland police spokesman, Assistant Inspector Luxon Chananda, said a disturbed Dumbamuromo phoned his two friends for assistance.
"His friends arrived and wrestled with the bogus soldier and managed to capture him. They took him to Sakubva Police Station," he said.
The imposter was referred to the Criminal Investigations Department as detectives wanted to establish the depth and extent of his illegal operations.
Officers handling the case revealed that Harare had pounced on several unsuspecting border jumpers and smugglers.
"He had done his homework well especially with regard to how he made the rifle from cheap wood and scrap metal and we believe many people might have been robbed of their hard earned cash by this fraudster," said a police source.
Officer Commanding Mutare Central District police, Chief Superintendent Winston Muzah, warned people to be wary of conmen who pretend to be genuine law enforcement agents.
From a distance, the fake AK rifle seemed genuine.It has a rubber magazine which was tied to the main frame by a wire and appears genuine.
The barrel was made from a steel tube attached to the main wood body with nails.A grey string acted as the carrier.
Police are appealing to anyone who might have been robbed by Harare to report to the nearest police station.
The area along the Forber Border Post is a beehive of smugglers of secondhand clothes and banned whiskies.
The country is losing thousands of dollars in tax revenue as a result of corruption that occurs between the smugglers and law enforcement agents that patrol the area.
Source - manicapost
