News / National
Bogus police report lands driver in trouble
23 May 2014 at 12:30hrs | Views
In a desperate attempt to escape smuggling charges, a Dangamvura man made a false report to the police that he had fallen for a rabbit trick and lost his vehicle.
The Manica Post carried the story last week, with Godfrey Munyaradzi Kuwaza (43) who stays in the Area 3 section of Dangamvura claiming that he had lost a Toyota Granvia after an unidentified man played a rabbit trick on him along Vumba Road.
He alleged that when he got to the 15km peg, he ran over a hare and when he pulled off the road to pick it, the man got into his car and sped off.
Police investigations, however, established that Kuwaza was lying and that he had managed to mislead the whole country in his efforts to escape jail.
Manicaland Provincial police spokesperson Inspector Enock Chishiri confirmed the case and said: "On the day he made the false report, Kuwaza had had an accident in Headlands when he tried to evade a police road block. He was so desperate to escape because he was carrying 19 bales of second-hand clothes in his vehicle and I am sure he knew very well that smuggling goods into or out of this country is a criminal offence."
After the minor accident, Kuwaza abandoned his vehicle together with his goods and ran away before proceeding to the police station in Dangamvura to make a false report.
"When police figured out that Kuwaza was lying, they immediately launched a manhunt for him. The detectives who were working on the case apprehended him on May 14 at a road block in Macheke while he was on his way to Harare," said Inspector Chishiri.
Kuwaza appeared before Rusape Magistrate Mr Shingi Mutiro, facing charges of smuggling and deliberately supplying false information to the police.
Magistrate Mutiro granted Kuwaza $100 bail. He is set to appear in court on the 29th of this month for the verdict.
In his comment, Inspector Chishiri said the police will continue to arrest, without fear or favour, people who smuggle goods in and out of the country.
He also said that it is a serious offence for anyone to make a false report to the police or any other public office.
The Manica Post carried the story last week, with Godfrey Munyaradzi Kuwaza (43) who stays in the Area 3 section of Dangamvura claiming that he had lost a Toyota Granvia after an unidentified man played a rabbit trick on him along Vumba Road.
He alleged that when he got to the 15km peg, he ran over a hare and when he pulled off the road to pick it, the man got into his car and sped off.
Police investigations, however, established that Kuwaza was lying and that he had managed to mislead the whole country in his efforts to escape jail.
Manicaland Provincial police spokesperson Inspector Enock Chishiri confirmed the case and said: "On the day he made the false report, Kuwaza had had an accident in Headlands when he tried to evade a police road block. He was so desperate to escape because he was carrying 19 bales of second-hand clothes in his vehicle and I am sure he knew very well that smuggling goods into or out of this country is a criminal offence."
After the minor accident, Kuwaza abandoned his vehicle together with his goods and ran away before proceeding to the police station in Dangamvura to make a false report.
"When police figured out that Kuwaza was lying, they immediately launched a manhunt for him. The detectives who were working on the case apprehended him on May 14 at a road block in Macheke while he was on his way to Harare," said Inspector Chishiri.
Kuwaza appeared before Rusape Magistrate Mr Shingi Mutiro, facing charges of smuggling and deliberately supplying false information to the police.
Magistrate Mutiro granted Kuwaza $100 bail. He is set to appear in court on the 29th of this month for the verdict.
In his comment, Inspector Chishiri said the police will continue to arrest, without fear or favour, people who smuggle goods in and out of the country.
He also said that it is a serious offence for anyone to make a false report to the police or any other public office.
Source - manicapost
