Guns found in journalist's house taken for testing

The five guns recovered following the arrest of one of the country's notorious armed robbers, Clever Mununudzi Nengomasha, who was shot and seriously injured in a skirmish with police in Harare, have been taken to the CID Forensics and Ballistics Unit for testing.

Following his arrest, police recovered the five guns and ammunition hidden at a Waterfalls house belonging to journalist, Xolisani Ncube.

Investigations revealed that Nengomasha, alias Paul Simon Chitakura, is related to Ncube (35) who is a Zimbabwe correspondent for South African media organisation, NewzRoom Afrika.

The two, who have since appeared in court, are still in custody as investigations continue.

Nengomasha has various armed robbery cases dating back to early 2000. He is presently under police guard at a local hospital after he was shot and seriously injured on the thigh during the shootout in Waterfalls.

Following his arrest, police who were acting on a tip-off on Nengomasha's whereabouts, then recovered two .22 Bruno rifles, a .357 Magnum revolver, a .38 Special Taurus Revolver, a 7.65mm Vzor pistol and 10 x 3,57mm rounds of ammunition, five x 9x19mm rounds of ammunition and 6×7,65mm rounds of ammunition hidden at Ncube's house.

Sources close to the investigations said the guns were taken to the Forensics and Ballistics Unit for testing, to ascertain whether they had been used to commit other crimes or not.

The Forensics and Ballistics Unit is a highly specialised technical unit of the Zimbabwe Republic Police whose function is to aid police investigations through analysing exhibits and giving expert conclusive evidence on crime scenes.

Ncube was arrested  last Thursday after he failed to produce firearm certificates of the recovered firearms. Some of the guns had erased serial numbers. Police said some of the guns were stolen during an armed robbery in the city, in which a man lost various firearms and cash to criminals who had raided his house last year.

Two of the suspects were later arrested and then implicated Nengomasha.

Police then raided Ncube's house and recovered the firearms.

Nengomasha has been on the police wanted list on several occasions and had been known mostly for hiding in South Africa.

In 2013, Nengomasha and his accomplices Peace Mutema alias Batista who is now late, and another one only identified as Mudzingwa, were once wanted for a spate of armed robberies in Harare and Bulawayo.

Ncube has been implicated in one of the armed robbery cases which occurred on February 2 this year at around 0730 hours in Sunridge, Harare where him, and his two accomplices who are already in remand and two others who are still at large, are alleged to have hatched a plan to rob a family.

They are reported to have armed themselves with an unidentified pistol and went to confront the complainant who had opened the kitchen door. Before force-marching him into his bedroom.

Police said they tied the complainant's hands from behind using shoelaces and ordered him to lie on the floor before demanding cash.

The complainant surrendered US$3 050, a .22 Bruno rifle, another .22 Bruno rifle, a .357 Ubreti-Cadrone rifle, a smart watch before attempting to drive off the man's car, a white Nissan Hardbody 2.7 they failed to start.

They then opened the vehicle's bonnet and stole its battery before leaving the scene.

Police said following his arrest, Ncube led to the recovery of the stolen guns and all the suspects were captured on the closed circuit television (CCTV) during the commission of the crime.

Total value stolen is US$4 130 and value recovered is US$150.