MAIZE DEPOT ROBBERY IN KALOMO: POLICE ON THE HUNT FOR FIVE SUSPECTS
In the early hours of June 10th, 2024, a brazen robbery took place at a maize depot along Ngoma Road in Kalomo.
Five unidentified individuals are now the focus of a police investigation after they absconded with 78 bags of maize, each weighing 90 kilograms and collectively valued at K59,670.
The theft resulted in injuries to two individuals.
Felix Choonga, 38, of Bwacha Compound and the owner of the stolen goods, reported the incident to the police.
He recounted that the assailants had assaulted his security guard, Anorld Sianuma, 26, inflicting a severe cut on his right hand and head.
Oscar Mwiinga, also 26, a maize buyer, suffered two deep lacerations on his head.
The sequence of events unfolded on the evening of June 9th, 2024, when the two victims dined at the depot.
Mwiinga retired shortly after their meal, leaving Sianuma to continue his guard duties.
At approximately 01:00 the following morning, two assailants attacked Sianuma, striking him multiple times on the head and stabbing him with a screwdriver in the arm.
Mwiinga was awakened by Sianuma’s cries for help, only to be struck twice on the head himself.
The Southern Province Commissioner of Police, Auxensio Daka, detailed that the victims were rendered helpless and bound to a pole supporting the depot’s shelter, their hands tied behind their backs with wire, and their legs secured with a rope from a mosquito net.
Shortly thereafter, a white Toyota Canter with a green/blue ribbon arrived, and three additional individuals, including the driver, began loading the maize bags.
Mwiinga eventually freed himself and fled to the nearby bushes.
Upon realizing one victim had escaped, the robbers hastily departed towards Kalomo town.
The police were notified by the public and discovered Sianuma being freed by locals using pliers.
Both victims were transported to Request Mutanga Hospital, where Sianuma remains hospitalized due to significant blood loss from his head wounds, while Mwiinga was treated and released.
BYTA FM