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Police gun down two, recover stolen car

Anti-motor theft officers from Southern Region Police Headquarters Thursday evening recovered a stolen car in less than an hour from the time it was stolen, killing two of four hijackers in the process.

Police have confirmed that during the operation in which they exchanged fire with the thugs in Machinjiri Township, two other suspects escaped.

Kadadzera points as some bullets (encircled) holed into the recovered car during the shoot-out
Kadadzera points as some bullets (encircled) holed into the recovered car during the shoot-out

A Toyota Fortuner, stolen from a lady [name withheld] in Chapima Heights in Blantyre, was as of Friday at Southern Region Police when Nation on Sunday visited. The vehicle was riddled with at least five bullets.

There were traces of blood in the car’s passenger seat, and according to Southern Region Police spokesperson James Kadadzera, one of the gunmen, whose body was at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) mortuary at the time of the interview on Friday, was shot while seated in the car.

Kadadzera said the owner of the car reported the matter to police immediately after the incident that happened at around 6 o’clock in the evening and police immediately started hunting for the stolen car.

Kadadzera said: “The lady was going home in the company of her little child when the robbers, coming from the opposite direction, created an accident and blocked her way.

“She came out of the car to complain about the incident, and the suspects, who were using a white pickup, pointed a gun at her. She pleaded with them to just allow her to collect her child from the car, which they did before speeding off with the car.”

He, however, said the car was recovered in less than one hour later after the thugs got stuck with it somewhere on the road that connects Machinjiri to Zomba Road.

“We exchanged fire with them and one of their bullets hit the mirror of our car. But on this road, there is some kind of a dead-end.

“They got out of the car and started running away, but our team, in an effort to disarm them, shot and arrested two of them while the other two escaped. Unfortunately, the two we arrested died upon arrival at QECH,” said Kadadzera.

He said police were still hunting for the two that escaped during the shoot-out and the driver of the pick-up that blocked the road at scene of the hijack. n

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