IN a shocking expose, police officers would allegedly
fatally assault suspects and in a bid to conceal the act, allegedly shoot at
the dead bodies and claim the suspects were killed while trying to flee from
custody during indications.
The expose is contained in a court case in which nine
police officers, among them senior officers are being indicted in a murder case
that happened in 2009.
The nine officers are set to appear in court facing two
counts of murder and obstruction of justice after they allegedly killed two
armed robbery suspects and tried to conceal their deaths, after allegedly
hatching a plan to make it appear as if they had been killed in an attempt to
flee from police custody.
Philip Tada, Daniel Nimrod Kwaramba, George Zuze, Onias
Mbano, Peter Muchada, Mgcini Sibanda, Mailos Mairos Ncube, President Masukumbe
and Albert Zhou are set to appear at the High Court of Zimbabwe in Bulawayo,
over the alleged murder of Andrew Jabulani Quinton Sibanda and Temai Bvumbunu
in March 2009, while they were in police custody.
Eight witnesses, among them relatives and residents who
heard gunshots during the time are expected to present testimonies in the case,
when the trial begins.
According to State papers seen by Sunday News, the nine
officers were attached to the Criminal Investigations Department in Bulawayo
and were handling a case of armed robbery, where the deceased duo had been
arrested over a series of armed robbery
cases.
Court records state that the deceased were arrested, after
they were raided at their respective places of residence in Njube suburb.
It was stated that after they were taken into custody, they
were interrogated and allegedly assaulted by the officers using batons,
sjambocks and open hands.
In an attempt to conceal the fatal assault the officers are
reported to have then hatched a plan to make it appear as if the two had been
shot after trying to escape from police custody.
“They then loaded the bodies of the deceased persons under
the cover of darkness into a motor vehicle and drove from the police station to
a bushy area in Queens Park. They then offloaded the bodies and laid them on
the ground facing downwards and shot them in the back, to look as if the
deceased had tried to flee from the place of indications,” read part of the
State record.
It was further stated that the nine officers took the
bodies to United Bulawayo Hospitals, where a post-mortem examination was
conducted by one doctor Garcia.
He concluded that the cause of death in relation with
Sibanda was caused by hypovolemic shock, bleeding outside, ruptured left kidney
and left iliac artery and gunshot wounds by homicide.
With regards to Bvumbunu, Dr Garcia concluded that the
cause of death was a result of acute anaemia, ruptured both lungs and left
femoral artery, gunshot and homicide.
It was then that a sudden death docket was compiled and an
inquest was held by the late magistrate Mr John Masimba.
It was during the inquest when one Detective Sergeant
Nyapokoto told the court that the deceased were assaulted and died while in
police custody at the station, adding that the escape and shoot was staged to
conceal the actual cause of death, records say.
This then led to a full investigation of murder. Sunday
News
0 comments:
Post a Comment