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Michael Magoronga, Midlands Correspondent

POLICE have arrested five suspected armed carjackers who allegedly terrorised motorists mainly in Harare and Beitbridge.

The five were arrested in Harare while driving a stolen vehicle after police launched a manhunt that tracked them from the border town to the capital.

Bill Tirihama (26), of Epworth, Narvick Nhowa (28), John Kamba (42) both of Highfields Harare, John Allan Nyoni (21), and Tichaona Dhava (26) both of Beitbridge have since been arraigned before Harare Magistrate Mr Stanford Mambanje and were remanded in custody to 26 January for routine remand.

Acting Provincial Community Relations Liaison Officer (CID), Detective Assistant Inspector Rachael Muteveri, said the arrest led to the clearance of four cases committed between April 2022 and January 2023 across the country.

The five would masquerade as passengers before robbing taxi drivers and other motorists of their vehicles.

“In one case, on 21 December 2022 around 4 AM, the accused persons approached the complainant who was parked at Mashakada Shopping Centre, Beitbridge, and hired him to New Stands in the same city,” said Detective Ass Insp Muteveri.

Along the way, they produced pistols and robbed the complainant of his vehicle, and drove off.

Using the same modus operandi, the gang robbed another complainant in the capital.

“On December 24 2022 around 10 PM, they approached the complainant and hired him from a night club in Harare CBD to Lochinvar. Along the way, they produced guns and shoved the driver off the vehicle, a Toyota Sienta, and drove away,” she said.

The team also robbed other motorists in Harare and Beitbridge using the same modus operandi.

Following their arrest, the suspects revealed that the Honda Fit they were driving was stolen in Beitbridge.

The accused persons also led a team of detectives to a bushy area in Beitbridge where a pellet gun and a toy gun they used in the commission of the crimes were recovered.