THREE beneficiaries of a recent amnesty on prisoners by the President have landed back into the hands of the law after they were arrested over a recent spate of burglary cases.
Police in Bulawayo confirmed they had arrested four suspects for allegedly breaking into over 15 households and stealing beds, groceries among other items which they buried in the bush in attempts to conceal evidence.
Bulawayo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube said Saturday the suspects also took advantage of the absence of some homeowners who have opted to spend the COVID-19 induced lockdown period in their rural homes.
“We arrested four suspects for unlawful entry and theft in Cowdray Park area and these are Amon Mono (21), Nqobizitha Sithole (25), Nkanyiso Baloyi (40) and Lloyd Majaji (45),” he said.
“These people were breaking into occupied and unoccupied houses where there are some people who left their places of residence for lockdown preferring to be at their rural homes.
“They broke into more than 15 houses stealing various property which includes beds, mattresses, blankets, solar panels, solar batteries, gas cylinders, television sets and a lot more.”
Ncube also said the suspects dug pits first before stealing the goods and burying them to conceal their offences.
As a result, information was passed to the police by the community, leading to the arrest of one of the suspects, who later revealed the identity and whereabouts of his accomplices leading to some recoveries made.
Ncube said three of the suspects were among thousands of prison inmates who were freed from prison recently through a presidential amnesty.
“The first three suspects had just been released from prison; the first one (Mono) was released in January 2020 the other two (Sithole and Baloyi) were released in November and December 2019, respectively,” said the police spokesperson.
“We are very much applauding members of the public for working with the police.
“However, we are still experiencing unsolved cases of unlawful entry here and there.
“We are also doing a follow-up because, as police, we understand that there is still another gang out there which is terrorising members of the public by breaking into their homes.”
