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Bongani Ndlovu, Online Reporter

A 35-YEAR-OLD armed robber will spend 20 years in prison after he was nailed by call logs from the victims’ phone that he had stolen as a member of a six-man-gang.

In a statement, the National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe (NPAZ) said Tafadzwa Kamandiyapa of Epworth Suburb in Harare will spend 20 years in prison after he was found guilty of robbery by the Chinhoyi Magistrates’ Court.

In 2022, Kamandiyapa and five others, broke into a house in Banket, beat up the victim demanding money and other valuables.

“On the 16th of April 2022 at around 0130hrs, Tafadzwa Kamandiyapa, McDonald Chaka and 5 others who are still at large, broke into the complainant’s house at Shipton Farm in Banket. They used a bolt cutter to cut off the burglar bars on the dining room window. They struck the complainant several times all over the body using a small axe and threatened to shoot him if he failed to comply with their demands. They demanded money and other valuables. The complainant complied and surrendered US$1 195,” read the statement.

The gang thereafter ransacked the house and loaded the stolen property onto their three-tonne truck.

“They ordered the complainant to surrender 2 Samsung cellphones and the keys to his Ford Ranger vehicle and fled the scene. The complainant’s vehicle was recovered on the same day dumped along Mapinga-Trelawney road. The small axe which was used to assault the complainant was also recovered in the vehicle,” read the statement.

The Police tracked one of the complainant’s Samsung cellphones through a call log supplied by Econet Wireless, leading to its recovery from McDonald Chaka on January 24 this year. “Further investigations led to the recovery of several other items which included 2 laptops and a generator leading to the arrest of Kamandiyapa. The accused person was sentenced to 20 years of which 5 years were suspended.”