The Sunday News
Walter Mswazie in Masvingo, Sunday News Correspondent
A HARARE-BASED army officer was allegedly hijacked and fatally assaulted before his assailants dumped his body in the back of his car.
They then drove along the highway for almost 40 kilometres and dumped the vehicle and the body in Masvingo. Captain Phio Jeketera (51)’s disfigured body was found dumped in his one-tonne Nissan Venice truck along the Masvingo-Beitbridge highway near Craft Centre on Friday last week. Surprisingly, his alleged assailants did not steal anything as all his possessions including a wallet with money, cellphone and groceries were found intact.
Masvingo police spokesperson Inspector Charity Mazula referred all questions to national police spokesperson Chief Superintendent Paul Nyathi who could neither confirm nor deny the incident, saying he had not received such a report from Masvingo.
However, Zimbabwe National Army director of public relations Lieutenant-Colonel Alphios Makotore confirmed the murder of the army captain saying it was shocking as the motive was not known.
“It is shocking that the assailants killed him but did not take anything away from him. The motive of the killing therefore remains a mystery that the police investigations are likely to unearth. We are told he was killed by people he had offered a lift from Gutu to Masvingo and someone said they heard him crying urging his assailants to take his possessions and spare his life but that was not to be. The incident occurred close to Gutu turn-off and the vehicle with the body was found in Masvingo town,” he said.
Sources said Cpt Jeketera was allegedly fatally attacked by assailants on Friday evening in Chief Makore area near Gutu turn-off who then put the body in his car’s loading box, and drove the vehicle to Masvingo. The badly injured body was left in the car in a pool of blood with the car keys still in the ignition but the engine was off.
“Cpt Jeketera left the capital on Saturday heading to Bikita. At around 8pm he stopped in Gutu where he bought some groceries from Spar Supermarket before proceeding on his journey, along Gutu-Masvingo Road,” said the source.
The source alleged that information shows that when Cpt Jeketera reached Masvingo-Gutu turn-off his car was blocked by the assailants before they jumped into his car and attacked him with sharp objects all over the body. Villagers also said one of Cpt Jeketera’s shoes was found at the turn-off and they suspect it came off during the attack.
On Saturday at around 10 am, a passer-by stumbled upon the Cpt Jeketera’s dumped car parked near Craft Centre and reported the matter to the police.
Police attended the scene and took the body to Masvingo General Hospital mortuary for post-mortem.
No arrests have been made and police have since launched a manhunt for the assailants.
