The Sunday News
Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
A HARARE-BASED company lost US$58 000 to daring thieves who broke into the manager’s office, blew a safe and looted cash.
The incident occurred last week amid calls for the public and companies not to store large amounts of money in their premises.
Police spokesperson Chief Superintendent Paul Nyathi confirmed the incident.
“A company based in Adbernie area in Harare lost US$58 000 to a gang of six thieves on 19 December 2016 at about 1am. The gang attacked the security guard that was manning the premise then they went on to scale the building where they gained access to the manager’s office.
“They used explosives to blow a safe that was in the office where the money was kept and fled,” he said.
Chief Sup Nyathi said a Lenovo laptop was also stolen during the robbery and the police are still conducting investigations.
The police also warned citizens not to move about with large sums of money or to store it in their homes as it was highly dangerous.
“We have recorded incidents just recently in Bulawayo, Harare, Chinhoyi and Gweru where people lost cash between US$13 000 to about US$60 000 which was either in shops, service stations or in the homes. We encourage people to store their money at the bank where it is safe. A safe is no longer a safe place to store money as thieves target such things, so we want all citizens to deposit their money in various banks and take only what is needed,” he said.
Chief Sup Nyathi said all business transaction involving money should be done in secure places and ensure that no money was exposed as thieves target people who do business in unorthodox places and rob them.
Meanwhile, ZRP has encouraged citizens to put their safety first at all costs during this festive season in order to have a pleasant and accident free holiday.
“Everyone has a role to play during our Christmas festivities so that we are all safe from accidents and other mishaps. It is not the job of the police alone but for every citizen as they go about their business,” he said.
He said the ZRP has deployed officers in all places where there will be people in order to maintain peace and tranquility.
“We have deployed police officers in residential areas, industrial sites, leisure and recreational areas and any place where people will gather so that they maintain order, safety and also general monitoring of goings on of activities in these said places during this period,” he said.
On those travelling the police spokesperson said travellers need to plan their journeys well in advance so as to avoid last minute rushing.
He said ill planned journeys make travellers use unauthorised modes of transport at illegal pick-up points which is not safe.
He said those travelling should use registered vehicles that have passenger insurance in the event of accidents.
Transport operators have also been encouraged to stick to their permits and use the authorised routes.
“Transport operators have a tendency of allowing their vehicles to use unauthorised routes in a bid to make profits but the challenge is that these drivers end up fatigued as they go to faraway places. They then sleep on the wheel and cause accidents.
So operators should allow their drivers to also rest which ensures their safety and also their passengers’ safety,” said Chief Sup Nyathi.
Drivers have also been encouraged to be cautious and stick to their lanes while driving as straddling lanes causes head on collisions.
The spokesperson could, however, no disclose statistics of road accidents so far.
Holiday makers were left almost stranded as transport operators hiked fares taking advantage of some desperate commuters who were traveling long distances.
The operators had been warned by the Transport and Infrastructural Development ministry not to increase fares but they went ahead and increased.
The Minister, Dr Jorum Gumbo said they are working with the police to ensure that operators stick to stipulated fares on their permits.
Last year, tyre bursts and negligent passengers were cited as major factors behind the increase in the number of fatal road traffic accidents, which killed 130 people.
Police attributed the tyre bursts to the high temperatures that the country was experiencing and encouraged motorists to check their tyres before embarking on journeys.
