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Temba Dube  Deputy News Editor
A catapult-wielding football thug, who was being hunted by police for murder, was at the police base at Ross Camp all along, The Chronicle can reveal.Nkosiyabo Ngwenya, 31, tormented rival fans during Highlanders’ Bob 91 Cup clash with Caps United on March 1, indiscriminately firing nuts and bolts at United fans and players.

Police had launched a full scale manhunt for Ngwenya in connection with a murder that occurred at Makokoba after the ill-fated match.
It has turned out that the suspect was right under their noses.

The murder victim sustained a fractured skull after being struck on the head with a bolt that is suspected to have been fired from a catapult.

Ngwenya – who has been cleared of the murder – handed himself over to Bulawayo Central Police Station on Tuesday night.

He was detained overnight and fined $40 before being released on Wednesday.

The Chronicle yesterday tracked Ngwenya to his sister’s home at Ross Camp and missed him by less than an hour.

A relative who declined to be named said Ngwenya, a security guard in the city, had travelled to his rural home in the Sigola area of Esigodini.

“That’s where Nkosiyabo lives. He was visiting his sister here. He was fined $20 for public violence and another $20 for carrying a dangerous weapon,” said the relative.

Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Mandlenkosi Moyo could not be reached for comment last night.

The Chronicle published a picture of Ngwenya taking aim with his catapult during the violence hit match.

CID detectives investigating the murder of a man in Makokoba suburb were immediately attracted to the picture, believing Ngwenya could help them solve their murder case.

Violence broke out at Barbourfields Stadium after United hitman, Roderick Mutuma, celebrated a goal in a way that a section of the Highlanders fans felt was provocative.

Mutuma, who previously played for Highlanders’ fierce rivals, Dynamos, scored the first goal, with Leonard Tsipa adding a second to dump the Bulawayo club out of the Bob91 Super Cup. The match ended 2-1.

Ngwenya was captured on camera by other fans, launching attacks on rival supporters with his catapult. He allegedly used nuts and bolts to inflict maximum injury.