Traffic cops arrested for mounting roadblocks

CAN it be classified as an act of heroism or simply a nasty up bringing that shapes the character of three unemployed Bulawayo men who reportedly made thousands of dollars from unsuspecting motorists during Christmas and New Year holidays after they allegedly impersonated traffic police officers?

The fake cops, Ekem Ncube (34), Stephen Ncube (32) and Liberty Muchena (26) in a bid to allegedly deceive unsuspecting motorists, especially those working in South Africa, popularly known as injiva, reportedly mounted roadblocks in various areas of the city while in traffic police gear.

In their deceiving expeditions, Muchena, who is reportedly a former law enforcer was the ring leader, allegedly using skills and knowledge he acquired when he was still in the force.

However, instead of giving it a bit of time off after successfully defrauding motorists and making "large" amounts of money during the festive season, the trio ran into trouble on Sunday leading to their arrest after they attempted to mount a roadblock near Centenary Park to prey on injivas returning to South Africa. Their seemingly unrevised move was indeed a ticket to their dramatic arrest.

According to a police source, the trio was demanding huge sums of money from motorists they would have "arrested" for various traffic offences. At one point they allegedly made a local bus crew part with $500 for a yet to be established phony traffic offence.

"Preliminary investigations have established that the suspects have successfully defrauded unsuspecting motorists and made large amounts of money by way of deception — pretending to be genuine traffic police officers. Investigations have also established that the trio demanded about $500 from a local bus crew for a yet to be established false traffic offence," said the source.

The following is an account of how the three bogus traffic cops were arrested for their fake traffic policing.

On 4 January at around 10am four Police Reaction Group details consisting of a Sergeant Chabata, Constables Matupire, Machingura and Mataga were on patrol when they reportedly came across Stephen who was carrying a bag containing police uniforms and on his way to Centenary Park to meet his accomplices so that they could mount a roadblock.

It is reported that the police officers immediately stopped him and demanded to search him. Upon being searched, Stephen was found in possession of police uniforms and boots stashed in the bag. After being quizzed for some time, Stephen reportedly confessed that he was a bogus cop and was on his way to Centenary Park to wait for his colleagues so that they could mount a roadblock to defraud unsuspecting motorists.

The four police officers took Stephen to Centenary Park where they reportedly found Ekem who was already in full police gear, waiting for Stephen and Muchena leading to his arrest. Further investigations also led to the arrest of the ex-cop, Muchena, who was allegedly supplying his accomplices with police uniforms. Upon their arrest police discovered text messages in their phones, they exchanged to plan on how they were going to carry out their operations.

The trio is, however, expected to appear in court soon facing impersonation charges as defined in Section 179 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:23.