Sharon Chikowore
THE town of Chinhoyi is experiencing a surge in office break-ins with culprits targeting offices in what appears to be a co-ordinated crime spree.
Over the past weeks, several offices have been broken into during the night with reports of stolen equipment and some cash and no arrests having been made so far.
Recently at NAC, four thieves broke in around 11pm on July 4 armed with a pistol, machetes and knife. The thieves attacked all the three guards on duty from the different points. The thieves then tied the three guards up using shoe laces and cello tapes.
The thieves left one of them guarding the guards and broke into various offices and only got away with $300 petty cash which was in a cash box in the storeroom. They also took an itel cellphone from one of the guards and US$5.
A few weeks back, the Department of Veterinary Services had their offices broken into and then the thieves blasted the safes, but did not find any valuables. They also went and did the same thing at the Chinhoyi Provincial Hospital and got away with some cash, Chinhoyi Council and got away with some cash, and a company which produces cooking oil and maize-meal, and at Steel Base, where they got away with some money.
As a result of this spate of break-ins the community is worried, especially business people since the culprits have not yet been apprehended while the break-ins are on the increase.
“We are deeply concerned. These are not random acts, these criminals who know what they are looking for. It’s like when they attack they will have already some information of the premise they go for. We now fear for our businesses.
“Police must make sure that these people are caught, because we are no longer safe in this town. If they do not go for the offices and business premises, they are going to go for our homes, terrorising us, taking what we have worked for, especially if you are a business person, they can just pounce on you at any time,” said Mhembere from Brundish.
Police have confirmed the incidents and that they have received several reports. They said investigations were underway urged anyone with information to come forward.
“We have received a number of cases on these robberies and investigations are underway. But as police we continue to urge people not to keep large sums of money and to put their money in banks. Also, it is important to engage in vetting people before offering them jobs because some of them are the ones giving out information to the thieves.
“We urge anyone with information on these break-ins to come to police so that it helps with the investigations and speeds up finding the culprits,” said Mashonaland West provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Ian Kohwera.
New Ziana
