News / National
'No foul play on Christpowers' death,' says police
04 Mar 2013 at 04:27hrs | Views
POLICE investigations have determined that the fire that claimed the life of Christpowers Maisiri in Headlands last week was a result of the explosion of tobacco chemicals and ammonium nitrate fertiliser in the thatched hut the boy was sleeping in.
Police chief spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba said there was no evidence of a petrol bomb on the scene.
"There is high probability that ammonium nitrate and tobacco chemicals exploded during the fire. No foul play is suspected.
"Forensic experts did their analysis combined with police investigations and no foul play is suspected."
Asst Comm Charamba said it was discovered that on the day in question Christpowers and his three brothers and a sister retired to bed around 9:30pm.
At around 11pm, James, Christpowers' elder brother, was awakened by an explosion and discovered that the house was on fire.
Police recovered from the hut, remnants of four bags of ammonium nitrate, clothing, nine blankets, a spirit level, two trowels, one passport in the name of Shepherd Maisiri, eight birth certificates, tobacco chemicals and textbooks.
A paraffin lamp was recovered near the bags of fertiliser.
Asst Comm Charamba dismissed claims by Shepherd Maisiri that his house had been set on fire eight times in the past.
She said only three cases were reported to the police.
Asst Comm Charamba said two of the cases were malicious injury to property and one of stock theft.
She said police investigations found that claims by James Maisiri that he was burnt while rescuing others were unfounded.
"James had no injuries sustained on his hands although he claimed to have been burnt while rescuing others," said Ass Comm Charamba.
MDC-T last week hijacked the 12-year-old boy's funeral claiming that the boy was a victim of political violence.
MDC-T secretary Mr Tendai Biti accused a senior Zanu-PF official in Manicaland and party supporters of causing the boy's death.
He claimed that MDC-T ministers confronted the senior Zanu-PF official during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday and he gave no satisfactory answer over the allegations.
However, President Mugabe said MDC-T had gone on a crusade accusing Zanu-PF of fomenting political violence ahead of harmonised elections slated for this year in a desperate bid to cover up for the defeat the party is likely to suffer at the polls.
He said the party was building a false picture of violent acts ahead of the general elections.
The President indicated that on Christpower's death, police had said they did not suspect any foul play in their preliminary investigations and urged the public to wait for the law enforcement agents to complete their enquiries.
There are also reports that some senior MDC-T officials coached Sherpherd Maisiri to blame Zanu-PF over the incident.
Police chief spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba said there was no evidence of a petrol bomb on the scene.
"There is high probability that ammonium nitrate and tobacco chemicals exploded during the fire. No foul play is suspected.
"Forensic experts did their analysis combined with police investigations and no foul play is suspected."
Asst Comm Charamba said it was discovered that on the day in question Christpowers and his three brothers and a sister retired to bed around 9:30pm.
At around 11pm, James, Christpowers' elder brother, was awakened by an explosion and discovered that the house was on fire.
Police recovered from the hut, remnants of four bags of ammonium nitrate, clothing, nine blankets, a spirit level, two trowels, one passport in the name of Shepherd Maisiri, eight birth certificates, tobacco chemicals and textbooks.
A paraffin lamp was recovered near the bags of fertiliser.
Asst Comm Charamba dismissed claims by Shepherd Maisiri that his house had been set on fire eight times in the past.
She said only three cases were reported to the police.
She said police investigations found that claims by James Maisiri that he was burnt while rescuing others were unfounded.
"James had no injuries sustained on his hands although he claimed to have been burnt while rescuing others," said Ass Comm Charamba.
MDC-T last week hijacked the 12-year-old boy's funeral claiming that the boy was a victim of political violence.
MDC-T secretary Mr Tendai Biti accused a senior Zanu-PF official in Manicaland and party supporters of causing the boy's death.
He claimed that MDC-T ministers confronted the senior Zanu-PF official during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday and he gave no satisfactory answer over the allegations.
However, President Mugabe said MDC-T had gone on a crusade accusing Zanu-PF of fomenting political violence ahead of harmonised elections slated for this year in a desperate bid to cover up for the defeat the party is likely to suffer at the polls.
He said the party was building a false picture of violent acts ahead of the general elections.
The President indicated that on Christpower's death, police had said they did not suspect any foul play in their preliminary investigations and urged the public to wait for the law enforcement agents to complete their enquiries.
There are also reports that some senior MDC-T officials coached Sherpherd Maisiri to blame Zanu-PF over the incident.
Source - TH
