Prominent Bus Operator Robbed Of Over US$17,000 And Firearms

Prominent bus operator Itai Matavata of Munenzva Buses reportedly lost more than US$17,000 and two firearms during an armed robbery in the early hours of Sunday.

The incident occurred at his garage along Willowvale Road, where a gang of about ten armed robbers struck shortly after midnight.

The suspects subdued and tied up the security guards on duty before disabling the CCTV surveillance system. They then made off with the cash and firearms. Said Matavata:

The robbers have grounded me. We always bank our cash but on this day we received payment for a bus, which we disposed, during late hours.

Our intention was to buy a new one the following day.

There is nowhere you can hide the selling of a bus but how the robbers came to know about the payment leaves us with a lot of questions.

I have been in this business for some time and it never happened.

Apart from the safe containing US$17,000 there was another safe with cash whose value we are yet to ascertain.

Harare provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Luckmore Chakanza, confirmed the incident. He said:

Police are investigating an armed robbery case at a bus garage in Southerton.

Ten men wearing woolen masks were reported to have jumped over the pre-cast wall and used an unknown object to break the office external wooden door and gained entry into the office and other rooms.

Four of them were armed with unidentified firearms.

In the main office the accused persons got hold of the security guard, kicked him on the back with booted feet demanding to know where cash was being kept.

The accused persons tied the guard’s hands at the back using a rope and covered him with blankets whilst guarded by two accused persons.

The other eight accused persons ransacked offices, destroyed the CCTV server, used a grinder to open the safe and stole US$17 000 and two firearms.

The ZRP recently said that many robberies are inside jobs, often enabled by employees who share sensitive details, either deliberately or unknowingly.

More: H-Metro