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Whinsley Masara, Chronicle Reporter
A SECURITY guard who was attacked by armed robbers after they handcuffed him, tied his legs and throttled him with a wire while he was on duty has died after spending four days in a coma.

The man, identified only as Mr E. Moyo (62) suffered head injuries following the attack that occurred at Engen Fuel Depot at Bulawayo’s Steeldale industrial site and failed to come out of the coma.

He died on Saturday night after battling for his life at the United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) since last Tuesday when the armed robbers, who are still on the run, attacked him.

Following the savage assault, the armed robbers broke into the manager’s office and fled with a laptop.

Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Precious Simango yesterday said investigations into the matter were in progress.

She appealed to members of the public who may have information that may lead to the arrest of the security guard’s attackers to approach the police.

Insp Simango urged companies to deploy more than one security guard at their premises.

“We want to encourage companies to deploy more than one security guard to their premises. This is for the protection of both the company’s property as well as the security of the employees,” said Insp Simango.

Employees at the depot told The Chronicle that they suspect the stolen laptop contained information sought by some insiders. “We suspect the armed robbery could be an inside job as someone wants to destroy some evidence in the manager’s computer. Nothing else was taken from the offices, even from Mr Moyo himself,” they said.

A security guard who spoke on condition of anonymity said they found Moyo unconscious, handcuffed, with his neck and legs tied using a wire.

“Moyo was badly attacked because the room we found him in was all bloody. They tied his legs and neck with a wire, handcuffed him and even went on to spray his eyes with a fire extinguisher.

“As security guards at the depot, we are supposed to communicate with each other at hourly intervals. When we tried to communicate with him and got no response, we were prompted to check, only to find him in a pool of blood at his workstation. He had deep cuts on the head,” said the security guard.

He said it seems the armed robbers had planned to kill Moyo as there were indications that his head was slammed against the wall which had blood stains.

“The handcuffs were too tight, cutting deep into his hands. The scene was horrific as the room was all bloody. Moyo was not able to tell what happened and who did it until he passed on,” he said.

@winnie_masara