Two police officers were allegedly kidnapped on Tuesday
night by a motorist they had stopped at a check point in Harare city centre set
up to enforce the 6pm to 6am curfew.
The motorist, 31-year-old Tinotenda Zinyemba, was driving a
white Isuzu KB truck when he was stopped by the officers near the intersection
of Samora Machel Avenue and Chinhoyi Street. He was asked why he was driving
during the curfew, which is allowed under certain circumstances.
But Zinyemba allegedly showed signs of resistance,
prompting two of the police officers to jump onto his vehicle and ordered him
to drive to Harare Central Police station.
Once the police officers were in the cab, Zinyemba drove
off at high speed eventually getting to Mazowe Street and was driving north
towards Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals.
Other officers manning the road block tried to give chase
on foot to rescue their colleagues and arrest the motorist, but after a brief
chase while Zinyemba was cutting around corners to get into Mazowe Street, had
to give up chase once he had a clear run.
But, as fate would have it, Zinyemba drove into a second
security check point at the corner of Josiah Tongogara Avenue and Mazowe
Street. And this time he was blocked, arrested and taken to Harare Central
Police Station.
National police spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner Paul
Nyathi, yesterday reiterated that it was a chargeable offence to fail to comply
with officers when carrying out their duties.
“Members of the public are urged to cooperate with police
officers and security services members who are conducting Covid-19 duties. The
ZRP would like to strongly warn all motorists and the general public that all
those who undermine the authority of the police will face the full wrath of the
law.”
Cases where officers on duty are being kidnapped have been
on the rise in the last few years and officers have been assaulted by motorists
in a bid to evade arrest.
It is an offence under the Road Traffic Act to disobey
directions and instructions, whether verbal or by signs, given by a police
officer in uniform.
In 2013, six policemen on duty in Harare were kidnapped and
attacked by a commuter omnibus crew and police have also recorded cases of
attempted murder and one culpable homicide perpetrated on officers by kombi
drivers and conductors. Herald
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