News / National
No leads yet in white businessman's murder
27 Jul 2012 at 05:54hrs | Views
THE recent murder of Harare businessman Allan Banks is one of the rare cases police have handled in many years, Criminal Investigations Department spokesperson Detective Chief Inspector Augustine Zimbili said yesterday.
Banks (52) went missing and was later found dead in his car this month near the intersection of Herbert Chitepo Avenue and Mazowe Street. His body was found stashed in the boot by passers-by who saw after flies swarming the Toyota Corolla sedan.
Such cases normally occur in crime-riddled countries like South Africa where businesspeople reportedly kill each other over botched business deals. Some of the valuables and an expensive Rolex watch were found in his car, raising fears that the people who murdered Banks might have been on a revenge mission.
In the case of Banks, police have not yet found any leads up to now on who could have murdered him. Det Chief Insp Zimbili said investigations were still on going.
"We are still investigating the case but there are no arrests so far. Once we have arrested or picked up any suspect in connection with case, we will let you know," he said. He said the case was an isolated and a rare one. "The case is one of its kind. We rarely handle such cases in Zimbabwe," Det Chief Insp Zimbili said.
Post-mortem results have shown that Banks was hit with a blunt object on the head before he was suffocated using a plastic sack.
The post-mortem was conducted at Parirenyatwa Hospital mortuary last Tuesday.
Sources said Banks was hit twice on the back of the head with a blunt object before he was suffocated. The motive behind the murder is still unknown, although police have ruled out armed robbery because of the recovered valuables. It is believed that he had cash on him but it was not recovered. Detectives from the CID Homicide section are handling the matter.
Banks conducted business with blacks, Asians, whites and coloured, among others and it is suspected he could have been killed over a business deal that went sour.
By the time he died unconfirmed reports said his business empire was crumbling.
He was into retail and wholesale business and he once sponsored athletics. Speaking to the Telegraph recently, Mr Banks' wife Monica said the family was struggling to stay afloat in Zimbabwe's harsh economic climate but she was sure her husband had no enemies.
"We don't know what business he was doing the day he disappeared," she said. "We don't want newspapers to know which suburb we live in because we don't want the guy (the killer) to come and get us as well."
Mr Banks' friend, who could not be named, denied reports in Harare that he had also been trading in small rough diamonds to raise cash to settle his debts. "I don't believe he was in any diamond business," he said. "He was in debt that is true, but at this point in time we don't know how deeply in debt he was."
Banks (52) went missing and was later found dead in his car this month near the intersection of Herbert Chitepo Avenue and Mazowe Street. His body was found stashed in the boot by passers-by who saw after flies swarming the Toyota Corolla sedan.
Such cases normally occur in crime-riddled countries like South Africa where businesspeople reportedly kill each other over botched business deals. Some of the valuables and an expensive Rolex watch were found in his car, raising fears that the people who murdered Banks might have been on a revenge mission.
In the case of Banks, police have not yet found any leads up to now on who could have murdered him. Det Chief Insp Zimbili said investigations were still on going.
"We are still investigating the case but there are no arrests so far. Once we have arrested or picked up any suspect in connection with case, we will let you know," he said. He said the case was an isolated and a rare one. "The case is one of its kind. We rarely handle such cases in Zimbabwe," Det Chief Insp Zimbili said.
Post-mortem results have shown that Banks was hit with a blunt object on the head before he was suffocated using a plastic sack.
Sources said Banks was hit twice on the back of the head with a blunt object before he was suffocated. The motive behind the murder is still unknown, although police have ruled out armed robbery because of the recovered valuables. It is believed that he had cash on him but it was not recovered. Detectives from the CID Homicide section are handling the matter.
Banks conducted business with blacks, Asians, whites and coloured, among others and it is suspected he could have been killed over a business deal that went sour.
By the time he died unconfirmed reports said his business empire was crumbling.
He was into retail and wholesale business and he once sponsored athletics. Speaking to the Telegraph recently, Mr Banks' wife Monica said the family was struggling to stay afloat in Zimbabwe's harsh economic climate but she was sure her husband had no enemies.
"We don't know what business he was doing the day he disappeared," she said. "We don't want newspapers to know which suburb we live in because we don't want the guy (the killer) to come and get us as well."
Mr Banks' friend, who could not be named, denied reports in Harare that he had also been trading in small rough diamonds to raise cash to settle his debts. "I don't believe he was in any diamond business," he said. "He was in debt that is true, but at this point in time we don't know how deeply in debt he was."
Source - herald
