SIX men one of whom has been confirmed as a member of the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) are now behind bars for robbing a local supermarket.
It is alleged the three in full military gear stole goods worth US$19 000 before they were arrested.
One of them, Nelson Ngwarati of ZNA Artillery Brigade, Domboshawa, was Thursday hauled before Harare magistrate Rumbidzai Mugwagwa facing armed robbery charges.
Ngwarati’s five accomplices are already on remand. He was advised to apply for bail at the High Court.
It is alleged that Ngwarati and his accomplices, broke into number 5 Ultra Bliss and stole blazers, chinos trouser, jackets and US$2 955 cash among other things.
The court heard the incident occurred on April 20 this year around 2 am.
“Allegations are that on April 20, 2019, at around 0205 hours the accused person in the company of his accomplices already arrested namely Webster Musarurwa, Givemore Nyarugwe and also Tendai Magauze and two others, Trustme Kauzani and one Ostern who are still at large, went to number 5 Ultra Bliss in a commuter omnibus.
“They were dressed in Zimbabwe National Army uniforms and armed with rifles, they approached two security guards who were guarding the shop,” prosecutors said.
It is the State’s case that they scared the security guards, threatening to shoot them with their rifles if they did not run away.
The security guards allegedly ran away leaving the accused at the shop.
It is alleged that the accused persons then smashed the display glasses of the shop with an object likely to be an iron bar to gain entry.
Whilst inside the shop, the court heard that they allegedly damaged CCTV cameras before stealing goods worth US$19 575.
The accused persons allegedly loaded the loot into their getaway car, a commuter bus which was parked outside and sped off.
On April 29 detectives from CID homicide in Harare reportedly arrested Ngwarati at Artillery Brigade in Domboshava.
Ngwarati led the detectives to the recovery of some stolen goods from his sister’s place in Waterfalls. The other stolen property was recovered from a man who had bought them from the accused persons.
