New wave of thieves terrorise Gwanda

A new wave of thieves concentrating on stealing fuel from cars parked over night has hit Gwanda.

Reports confirmed by Bulawayo24 are that the thieves move around at night carrying what could be a drill and drill a hole at the bottom of the fuel tank of parked vehicles and drain all the fuel.

The reports indicate that the thieves target mostly cars parked in unguarded open spaces outside the owners' homes. A number of people from around the high density suburbs of the town have confirmed to waking up in the morning with all their fuel drained from their cars.

A majority of the incidents are in the Old Jahunda Township area where most houses have no perimeter fencing and so owners park the cars outside their houses in open. A few incidents of the fuel thefts have been reported in the low density suburbs and the town centre where vehicles are more secured. However, the low density areas appear to be complaining mostly of theft of wheels especially mag wheels and radios from parked cars at night.

Over the years, Gwanda has been a very quiet place in as far as car theft or breaking into cars has been concerned. There have been very few incidents of these cases so much that people in Gwanda have generally relaxed in the security of their cars. Cars in Gwanda are seen parked randomly anywhere in the town overnight. Some owners will openly tell you they don't remember when they last locked their cars because the town is free of such crimes.

Incidents of car theft or breaking into motor vehicles are predominant in the bigger cities like Harare and Bulawayo where one can never rest not knowing if their car is safe.

The bigger cities have established over night car parks that provide a guarded car park at a minimal cost. The need for an overnight car park has not been realised yet in the town but this wave of thefts is likely to stimulate for overnight car parks.