Malawi Police foil armed robbery, kill two
Malawi Police in Lilongwe on Monday shot and killed two armed robbers after foiling an attempted robbery at a Puma Service Station situated between the newly-constructed Lilongwe West By-pass Road roundabout and Gateway Mall.
Both Inspector General of Police Paul Kanyama and Commissioner for the Central Region Demster Chigwenembe confirmed the incident.
Kanyama said a well-wisher tipped off Criminal Investigations Department (CID) officers based at the Central Region Police Headquarters that some robbers were planning to hit the said filling station at around lunch hour.
He said the CID officers set up a roadblock near Biwi and Lilongwe Technical College where the vehicle the robbers used was stopped.
He said three robbers started running away upon being stopped, prompting the police to shoot at two who died instantly and one managed to escape. Two other suspects were successfully arrested and are currently in police custody.
Chigwenembe identified those arrested as as Ngalande Kapalamula, 40, from Chinkombero Village, Traditional Authority (T/A) Malili in Lilongwe and Howard Chazemba, 41, of Smith Village, T/A Malili, but based in Area 23.
The robbers, according to Chigwenembe, were found with an AK 47 assault rifle with 18 rounds of ammunition, a sharp axe, one shock stick, Valium and 20 meticais.
In a related development, on Sunday, police in Lilongwe also killed a suspected armed robber in a swoop that saw the arrest of two other members of a gang that targeted homes and stole household property worth millions of kwacha, mainly in Area 3 in Lilongwe.
Confirming the development, Lilongwe Police Station spokesperson Kingsley Dandaula said the suspected robber met his fate after he defied orders and warnings to stop running away, upon being confronted by armed police officers near Ajawa Lodge in Area 36 on Saturday evening.
He said the police, acting upon classified information and tip-offs, found the three suspected gang members, whose movements they had been monitoring for over two weeks, in a drinking joint.
Two of the gang members obliged to the arrest but the deceased fled hence being shot at, he stated, adding that the deceased was rushed to Kamuzu Central Hospital where he later died from his gun wounds.
Dandaula identified the deceased as Wadi, who resided in Area 24 Township. He was found with a torch.
The arrested suspected armed robbers were identified Lameck Gaba Chindime, 29, from Somba Village in Traditional Authority Bibi Kulunda, in Salima District, and Patrick Phiri Swale, 36, from Makula Village in Traditional Authority Malengachanzi in Nkhotakota District.
