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Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Correspondent
THREE gun-toting robbers claiming to be police officers raided a house in Bulawayo’s Nkulumane suburb and got away with $700 bond notes.

One of the three armed robbers was allegedly clad in a police uniform.

The trio pounced on Clement Ngwenya (24), an employee of a construction company, at his home at about 7PM last Saturday.

In an interview, Mr Ngwenya told The Chronicle he did not suspect anything was amiss when the criminals presented themselves as police officers. “The three came pretending to be police officers. They were driving a white Toyota Corolla and they asked for me by name. The one who was wearing a police uniform and one of his accomplices were carrying pistols while the third person was casually swinging a pair of hand cuffs,” said Mr Ngwenya.

He said the three initially demanded cash saying they knew he had US dollars and rand in his possession.

“They said they knew about the money as my boss had been robbed by armed robbers at his home. Our boss (Elliot Moyo) told us that he had been robbed but he didn’t tell us how much was taken,” he said.

In August, armed robbers raided Bulawayo businessman Mr Elliot Moyo, who runs a construction company, and robbed him of $18 000 at his home in Gwabalanda, barely 12 hours after he had sold a house.

Mr Ngwenya said things took a sinister turn when the “cops” became aggressive and threatened to shoot his brother when he asked to see police identification.

“They said no one demands anything from them. They said they were allowed to shoot anyone as they were from the CID Homicide Unit,” said Mr Ngwenya.

He said two of them force marched him into the house and demanded to see the money which he had.

“They said they wanted to cross check the serial numbers because they were investigating a case of stolen cash. I showed them $700 bond that I had and they said they were taking me to the police station for further questioning,” Mr Ngwenya said.

He said he left the house with them and as they entered the vehicle, one of them said I should go back and collect my jacket as I would need it. “I went back into the house and when I returned, their vehicle was gone. That’s when it dawned on me that I had been robbed and those guys were not police officers but criminals. We immediately reported the matter to the police,” Mr Ngwenya said.

His relatives expressed shock at the conduct of the robbers. They said Saturday’s incident makes it difficult for them to trust police officers as anyone could be a criminal.

Bulawayo deputy police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube said police were investigating the matter.

“We also call on members of the public who might have knowledge about this crime to come forward as criminals live with us in society,” he said. — @nqotshili