ELEVEN suspects appeared in court yesterday on allegations of posing as police officers and kidnapping a man before demanding US$120 000 ransom from his relatives.
Guo Zairen (34), Wang Gao (40), Primrose Miga (34), Charles
Matondo (46), Tonderai Naison Kaja (34), Charles Notice (34), Christopher
Chirombe (34), O’brian Miti (31), Simbarashe Kumba (24), Carlington Konselia
(28) and Oswel Tinotenda Tsikai (29), were facing kidnapping charges when they
appeared before Harare magistrate Mr Dennis Mangosi.
The State opposed bail arguing that the suspects could flee
the court’s jurisdiction.
Investigating officer, Detective Gentle Tapererwa, said the
11 were not proper candidates for bail.
“Some of the accused persons exhibited signs that they are
capable of fleeing if freed since they tried to escape from police officers,”
he said.
Mr Mangosi deferred the matter to Monday for bail ruling.
The court heard that on April 17 at around 3pm, the
suspects hatched a plan to kidnap the complainant and demand a ransom.
Acting in common purpose, five of the suspects and Tendai
Notice, who is still at large, went to a Chinese restaurant in Belgravia
driving a white Toyota Fortuner whose registration numbers are unknown, but was
being driven by Guo.
They also had a Toyota Belta, whose registration number is
also unknown, but was being driven by Tendai Notice.
The complainant, Cheng Song, was at the restaurant having
lunch with his friend, Tu Muqing. Guo and Wang allegedly showed Kaja, Chirombe
and Miti, the complainant who in-turn confronted him and introduced themselves
as police officers.
The suspects then claimed that Cheng was under arrest, but
did not notify him of his offence.
The court heard that the suspects handcuffed him and forced
him into their Toyota Belta and drove away, leaving Tu Muqing behind.
The suspects took Cheng to House Number 1, Montenes Drive,
Mandara, Harare, where Miga, Matondo, Kumba, Konselia and Tsikai were waiting
for them.
Tu Muqing then phoned and informed Cheng’s cousin sister,
Wang Yanan, that Cheng had been arrested by police officers.
Cheng sent his Google maps location to Wang Yanan, through
a Chinese WeChat internet platform, seeking assistance from her.
Wang Yanan contacted Superintendent Victor Phiri of the
Zimbabwe Republic Police and sought assistance to be escorted to the said
police station.
It is alleged that Supt Phiri met with Wang Yanan and on
checking the Google maps location, he discovered that it was showing a place in
a bushy area adjacent to Chikurubi Maximum Prison and that there were no police
stations closeby.
At that moment, Wang Yanan received a phone call on her
WeChat platform from Cheng who told her that he was being held hostage by the
suspects and that they were prohibiting him from using ordinary voice calls or
the WhatsApp platform.
Cheng further told her that the suspects were demanding a
ransom of US$120 000, which was to be delivered to them promptly to ensure he
was not going to be harmed by them, and eventually be deported.
It is alleged that after about 15 minutes, the suspects
used Cheng’s cell phone and contacted Wang Yanan and ordered her to drive to
the Google maps location.
Supt Phiri alerted CID Homicide Harare of the kidnapping
and extortion and they swiftly reacted and waylaid the suspects at the given
Google maps location.
Charles Notice, Chirombe, Konselia and Tsikai arrived
driving a Toyota Fortuner, registration number AEN 4346, and ordered Wang Yanan
to follow their vehicle and they drove off at high speed.
Police detectives followed the suspects’ vehicle and drove
along Arcturus Road, Greendale, and identified themselves as police detectives,
before ordering them to pullover.
It is the State’s case that the suspects increased the
speed of their vehicle in an effort to evade arrest, prompting police officers
to fire warning shots, but they continued driving at high speed.
This resulted in the police officers firing towards the
vehicle, leading to the driver losing control and plunging into a ditch. They
were then arrested.
The court heard that the suspects led the police to House
Number 1, Montenes Drive in Mandara where they found Cheng being guarded by
some of the suspects.
He was then rescued by the police. Herald
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