CHINHOYI – THREE livestock thieves, who were caught red-handed in possession of
beef from cattle they had slaughtered and refrigerators sued to store at a rented house
in Chinhoyi have been denied bail.
The three appeared before Magistrate Shepherd Munjanja facing two counts of cattle
rustling and malicious damage to property. They were remanded in custody.
Passmore Taderera, Marvellous Chikandiwa and Cain Chimanga, were arrested in
Ruvimbo last week after a tip-off from residents who suspected that something dodgy
was happening.
Police then raided the house and found the trio inside while with refrigerators, beef,
knives, homemade sword showing that they were in the process of cleaning and
packaging the meat.
The court heard that the three were stealing cattle from Portlet Estates, owned by John
Alexander Crawford. On the first count they are accused of stealing an in-calf dairy cow
and slaughtering it.
They subsequently went back and took two cows from one of the paddocks at the farm
and slaughtered them before transporting the carcasses to the rented house in
Ruvimbo, Chinhoyi.
They went back for the third time and struck a cow on the knee and stabbed the other
on the stomach intending to kill the animals.
The trio never slept in the rented house and usually used different entrances so that
people would not locate where they were getting into or where they had come from.