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The Trek filling station that was robbed

Mpumelelo Nyoni and Loveness Bepete Chronicle Reporter
THREE men pounced on a Trek Petroleum filling station in Bulawayo on Monday morning and got away with $160,000 in cash at gunpoint. The incident happened at about 9AM along Robert Mugabe Way.

The robbers have since been arrested but the $160,000 that was stolen has not been recovered.

Trek Petroleum has since announced that a monetary reward would be offered to anyone with information leading to the recovery of the money.

Ant Davies, the filling station’s operations manager, yesterday said the armed robbers were identified on the fuel company’s CCTV surveillance cameras.

He said the gang ambushed the shop’s assistant whom they hit with the butt of a gun and grabbed the money that was in a bag in the shop.

They then drove off in a grey Honda Fit at high speed.

Davies said the robbery happened fast.

“There were three people who were parked in a grey Honda Fit near the filling station and they just waited in the car park until one of our shop assistants arrived.

“The whole thing happened so fast.

“Two of them got out of the car; one hit the assistant at the back of the head with the butt of a gun while the other grabbed the money which was in a transport bag and they drove off,” said Davies.

He said the money had been collected over the weekend from other Trek filling stations in Bulawayo.

Davies said police had since arrested three suspects and a reward is on offer for anyone with information leading to the recovery of the money.

He said the amount of money to be given to those with information depends on how much funds the company would have been recovered from the tip-off.

The latest robbery comes a month after robbers broke into DHL offices and got away with $1,800.

Recently, three armed robbers walked into the Maphisa branch of Agribank and got away with $100,000 after locking the bank tellers and a customer in a strong room.