Africa-Press – Botswana. Sejelo and Kanye police stations have joined forces through intensive patrols owing to increased crime, particularly home invasions in their policing areas.
In an interview, Sejelo police station commander, Superintendent Mogomotsi Matlapeng said they had recently registered two cases of home invasions, one on May 12 and the other on May 14 at Motebejane Ward in Kanye.
Supt. Matlapeng said on May 12, four culprits invaded a home armed with knives and made away with a laptop, cellphones and a Nissan X-trail vehicle which was later recovered.
He said in another incident that happened in the early hours of May 14, two men also attacked a woman in her house, demanded for money and later raped her and then made away with cellphones and a Toyota Corolla, which they later dumped.
He said culprits in both incidents were still at large and investigations were ongoing. He also pleaded with the nation to assist with any information that may lead to the arrest of the perpetrators.
On one hand, he said in efforts to fight the increasing crime, they had employed different strategies such as intensive patrols and educating residents about crime preventions strategies.
“We advise residents to employ strategies such as ntebele ke go lebele, as well as to form groups in their areas where one would signal to others during attacks,” he said.
Again, he said they worked closely with police clusters in different wards to be always on the lookout for any suspicious activities and had also embarked on massive policing operations.
He further urged the public to avoid fighting criminals in order to save lives and also report any suspicious activities.
For his part, Kanye police station commander, Supt. Vincent Pitseetsile said they registered four cases of home invasions in his policing area. Supt. Pitseetsile said on May 13, four young men broke into a home, attacked a man and a woman and took three cell phones, laptop and bank cards.
“The men then tied the two, put them in the man’s car and drove to the forest, where they left them with other two culprits while the other two went to the bank but failed to get any money,” he said.
He added that the two culprits who were left with the victims at the forest then raped the woman.
“Upon return from the bank, the four men put the victims back into the car and drove to Mmathethe, where they committed other offences. From Mmathethe they drove to Molapowabojang, then back to Kanye and left the victims and the car at their home,” he added.
He further said in the early hours of May 17, three cases of home invasions were reported from Ruele ward. In the first home, he said three perpetrators found father and son and made away with two cellphones after injuring the father.
He said they then went to the second home, where they found husband and wife and destroyed sewing machine and took three cell phones, after stabbing the husband with something sharp.
At the third house, he said the culprits found a man and lady friend then assaulted them and took two cellphones.
“These culprits were mostly looking for money and valuables such as cellphones, televisions and laptops,” he said.
Still on May 17, he said they managed to arrest three young men while the fourth fled upon seeing the police vehicle.
On the other hand, he advised the public to report any suspicious visitors at their homes, saying “they visit our children, whom they work with to commit crime and I advise them to desist from such behaviour as we are obviously going to arrest them hence their futures would be destroyed.”
He also appealed to the public to give them space to investigate the cases effectively.
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