Late night ‘stop and search’ foils imminent break-in
Masunga police made a timely late night intervention last Tuesday, stumbling upon suspected gang of thieves believed to be on their way to carry out a burglary.
During a routine ‘stop and search’ operation at around 00:30hrs near Makau Bar on the edge of Makaleng village, the cops rumbled four men with ‘house-breaking equipment’ in the back of their car.
According to Masunga CID Officer in Charge, Obakeng Manewe a search of their Honda Fit vehicle uncovered: a 15 cm screw driver, bobbejaan spanner, gloves, catapult, cutter, cooper hat and a crow bar.
“During the arrest, they indicated that they were from Sebina where they wanted to rob only to be distracted by people. They said they were now on the way to Sechele and Mambo villages to try their luck there,” Manewe told The Voice, adding there has been a spate of house break-ins in the area recently.
The arrested four, Zimbabwean trio: Clement Passmore Gondo, 38, Brian Dube, 46, Moses Mwanza, 44, and 28-year-old local Mompati John of Shashe Mooke, were arraigned before Masunga Magistrate Court last Thursday.
They were slapped with a single charge of being armed with intent to commit certain serious offences. The Zim contingent were also charged with being in Botswana illegally, dashing any hopes they had of immediate freedom.
It meant they had to watch on while their co-accused, John was granted conditional bail on a P1, 000 bind. He was also required to provide two sureties to the same amount.
All four suspects are due back in court on 30 August; the foreigners will be transported in from prison while John will make his own leisurely way in from home.
