Armed robbers gunned down movie style

TWO armed robbers who were part of a six-man armed gang that had been terrorising and robbing people throughout the country were on Wednesday afternoon gunned down in Gweru movie style following a high speed chase with a team of crack detectives from the Bulawayo and Harare homicide sections.

The pair - Knowledge Dawa, also known as Knox, and Pardon Zvirimumoyo Rumungwe - was shot and killed while trying to flee from detectives who had cornered them in the Gweru central business district.

According to sources, a high speed car chase ensued when the robbers realised that they had been spotted and it ended with their violent death in the industrial area of Gweru after they were shot by the pursuing detectives.

Dawa was shot in the pelvis, while Rumungwe was shot in the abdomen and died on their way to Gweru General Hospital after implicating Together Chingwatu, Benjamin and Tenei.

Dawa and Rumungwe were tracked to Gweru after detectives in Bulawayo had arrested their accomplice, Author Jappa (43), an employee of Kingdom Bank in the city, who implicated them.

Jappa also divulged their whereabouts resulting in a manhunt and their subsequent shooting.

The pair was wanted in connection with a number of armed robberies, including one in May 2013 when they hit Waverly Blankets in Harare and escaped with $400 000.

They were also involved in a house robbery in Kumalo, Bulawayo, getting away with R511 400 and $5 400.

Jappa appeared in court yesterday facing armed robbery charges and was remanded in custody to January 15 for trial at the Bulawayo Regional Courts.

He was not formally charged when he appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Gladmore Mushove.

Charges against Jappa are that sometime in December last year he befriended Arnold Bobby Chipazi of Kumalo.

Jappa allegedly took advantage of his friendship with Chipazi to study the security system at his house and where he kept his money after discovering that he had a tendency of keeping large amounts of cash in the house.

Armed with the knowledge of the security system, Jappa on December 29 then connived with Dawa and Rumungwe as well as Chingwatu, Benjamin and Tenei, who are still at large, to raid Chipazi's house and rob him of money.

Jappa drove the armed gang to Chipazi's Kumalo house at around 7:20pm and parked by the roadside.

Jappa remained in the vehicle while four robbers, who were armed with two guns, proceeded into Chipazi's property.

The State said the robbers allegedly posed as police officers from Shangani who were investigating a case of robbery, handcuffed Chipazi and forced him to show them where he kept his money threatening to shoot him.

The robbers also allegedly force-marched three people who were in the house into a spare bedroom, tied them with electric cables and locked them inside.

The State said the five took R511 400 and $5 400 from Chipazi's safe and then went on to handcuff him to a water pipe outside the house and fled from the scene. Jappa was given R70 000 as his share from the loot. Chipazi later managed to free himself and reported the robbery to the police, leading to Jappa's arrest.

Jappa then implicated Dawa and Rumungwe and disclosed their whereabouts.

Nothing was recovered from the stolen cash except a gun and Jeep Cherokee that Dawa had bought from the proceeds of the robbery.

The car and the gun were found in Jappa's possession.

Meanwhile, a statement released by national police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba last night said the gang had also been involved in another armed robbery at Not Sure Mine in Kwekwe where they stole two 50kg pregnant carbon gold, 1,7 amalgam gold and $413.

Charamba said the police were making an effort to account for Chingwatu, Benjamin and Tenei, who are still at large.

"We are therefore appealing to anyone with information leading to the arrest of the three to contact the nearest police station," she said.