Beitbridge Villager Shot by ZNA officer

A-BEITBRIDGE villager Knowledge Sibanda was last Thursday shot and injured by a soldier as he was driving near the now defunct River Ranch Diamond Mine.

When police officers attended the scene, the soldier's colleagues allegedly chased them away and destroyed evidence.

National police spokesman Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said he can only get finer details about the issue on Monday.

"If you can call me tomorrow I might have details. At the moment I don't have much," Nyathi said.

"They fired at me and hit my car nine times. They had not even attempted to stop me, when I passed by they just started opening fire. When police based at Makakavhule Clinic tried to attend to the scene, the soldiers chased them away," Sibanda told NewsDay.

"I was grazed by a bullet in the head, but I do not have serious injuries. These people (soldiers) are causing a lot of problems in our village, and we have no protection because they are a law unto themselves. You should have seen how they humiliated the police," he said.

Confusion is reigning supreme in Beitbridge where an operation against smuggling has been on-going, and has resulted in people beaten up or dying in the hands of law enforcement agents.

In December last year,  police detective Sergeant Sikhelele Ncube told the court that a tout called Abel Gumbo who operated at the  border town was shot by the police in Lutumba in May this year after he was mistaken for an armed robber.

Gumbo whose family is yet to get justice was shot dead by a policeman who was part of a team deployed in an operation against smuggling.