Armed robbers arrested in underwear

THREE men armed with metal bars allegedly carjacked two motorists and robbed two shops, getting away with cash, cigarettes, cell phones and laptops, police have confirmed.

Police halted the trio's 16-day crime spree by arresting them in two dramatic raids in the city on Wednesday.

Mandla Ndlovu (38), Godknows Moyo (29) and Tedious Sibanda (31) were based in Cowdray Park suburb in Bulawayo but are originally from Lower Gweru.

Following an anonymus tip-off, police laid a trap for the gang at Cement Siding Shops.

"Queenspark police officers lay in wait at the shops on Tuesday night. Just after midnight, the gang appeared and as usual, threatened the security guards with knives and iron bars," said a source.

"The cops sprung their trap and arrested Ndlovu. His partners in crime fled. However, their fellow gangster led police to their lair in Cowdray Park. They arrested the suspects in their underwear hours later as they had stripped to sleep for the night."

A source close to investigations said on June 12 the trio went to Cement Siding where they hijacked a Toyota Spacio driver, took his car, $35 and a cellphone.

"They threatened to kill the driver with iron bars. They frisked him and relieved him of cash and his cellphone before pushing him out of the vehicle and speeding away," said the source.

They drove the vehicle towards Montgomery suburb for about four kilometers and dumped it after it developed a fault.

On the same day they went to Mahatshula where they broke into Blessing Pack Shop using an unknown object and blasted a safe which was empty. The shop's supervisor, Ms Zorodzayi Chanda, yesterday said the trio tied the security guard, Jona Chitiko, with shoe laces and broke into the shop.

"They stole 17 cell phones," she said.

On June 24 the gang went to Kingsdale suburb where they pounced at Makhelwane shops.

"They threatened to beat up the security guard with iron bars. They tied him up and got away with $60, five packs of cigarettes, meat and two laptops," said Sikhathazile Ncube, the owner of the shop.

Another source said on June 27, the trio armed with knives and metal bars attacked Gift Zhowa, a Honda Fit pirate taxi driver.

"They tied him up, robbed him of $97 and a cellphone before driving away in his car," said the source.

"They drove the vehicle towards Cement Siding Spar shops and dumped it there as it had run out of fuel."

The source said Zhowa managed to untie himself after an hour and reported the matter at Cement Siding Police base.

Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Precious Simango said the suspects were assisting police with investigations.

She said police were hoping to solve more crimes that were committed using the same modus operandi in the city.

"I can confirm that we arrested three robbers on June 28. We have received a number reports that robbers have now resorted to using private vehicles to rob people as such I would like to urge the members of the public not to board private vehicles as they risk being robbed and harmed," she said.

She urged shop owners to install alarms and burglar bars at their premises.

Insp Simango said police recovered 11 cellphones and a tablet phone, two lap tops and two vehicles.  She said the total value of the recovered items was $12 000.

The trio is in police custody and expected to appear in court soon.