News / National
Gold ore robbers appear in court
04 Mar 2022 at 05:34hrs | Views
Eight suspected armed robbers who on Tuesday stormed Empress Gold Mine in Mashava before getting away with 1kg of gold-rich ore have appeared before a Masvingo Magistrates Court today.
Initially police arrested six of the suspects on Wednesday after they were involved in a head-on collision with a haulage truck along the Masvingo-Harare highway during a high-speed chase with detectives.
Two others were later arrested after they had escaped from the scene.
The eight are George Chiroodza (age not given), of Gokwe, Tapiwa Pepukai (36) of Dangamvura, Mutare, Obert Matiza (21) of Zaka, Method Musinyari (42) of Kuwadzana in Harare, Joseph Peter (30) of Kuwadzana, Harare, Euvencio Masundire (42) of Bikita, Justice Muringapasi (36) of Kuwadzana, Harare and Tamuka Chiremba (34) of Mbare in Harare were not asked to plead when they appeared before Masvingo magistrate Mr Enias Magate facing armed robbery charges.
Mr Magate remanded the eight in custody to March 17 for routine remand and advised them to apply for bail at the High Court.
Prosecutor Mr Noel Mandebvu alleged that on March 1, the eight hatched a plan and drove to Empress Mine in Mashava with the intention to steal gold ore.
On arrival at the mine at around 10am, the accused, who were hiding in the bush appeared from the blindside and confronted a mine employee Clive Nyamande who was driving a scooter loaded with 1kg gold ore.
The accused also disarmed a security guard at the mine and took away his .303 rifle.
They proceeded to give chase to Nyamande who tried to flee with a sack carrying the ore after he had stopped the scooter.
The accused then forcibly took away the ore from Nyamande after he failed to outpace them.
They then allegedly left the scene in their gateway vehicle and headed to Masvingo City where they were involved in a high-speed chase with detectives.
Their luck ran out when they were involved in an accident.
Initially police arrested six of the suspects on Wednesday after they were involved in a head-on collision with a haulage truck along the Masvingo-Harare highway during a high-speed chase with detectives.
Two others were later arrested after they had escaped from the scene.
The eight are George Chiroodza (age not given), of Gokwe, Tapiwa Pepukai (36) of Dangamvura, Mutare, Obert Matiza (21) of Zaka, Method Musinyari (42) of Kuwadzana in Harare, Joseph Peter (30) of Kuwadzana, Harare, Euvencio Masundire (42) of Bikita, Justice Muringapasi (36) of Kuwadzana, Harare and Tamuka Chiremba (34) of Mbare in Harare were not asked to plead when they appeared before Masvingo magistrate Mr Enias Magate facing armed robbery charges.
Mr Magate remanded the eight in custody to March 17 for routine remand and advised them to apply for bail at the High Court.
Prosecutor Mr Noel Mandebvu alleged that on March 1, the eight hatched a plan and drove to Empress Mine in Mashava with the intention to steal gold ore.
The accused also disarmed a security guard at the mine and took away his .303 rifle.
They proceeded to give chase to Nyamande who tried to flee with a sack carrying the ore after he had stopped the scooter.
The accused then forcibly took away the ore from Nyamande after he failed to outpace them.
They then allegedly left the scene in their gateway vehicle and headed to Masvingo City where they were involved in a high-speed chase with detectives.
Their luck ran out when they were involved in an accident.
Source - The Herald
