By Phillimon Backson
Police in Mangochi over the weekend arrested a 40-year-old man identified as Joseph Banda in connection with a robbery in which a businessman lost K3.8 million in cash at Misi-Katema Village along the Mangochi–Monkey Bay Road. Police have recovered K1.8 million of the stolen money.
Banda hails from Timbiri Village under Traditional Authority(T/A) Timbiri in Nkhata Bay District.
Mangochi Police spokesperson Amina Tepani Daudi said the victim, Douglas Mathews, 33, from Mgundaphiri Village under Traditional Authority(T/A) Mponda in Mangochi District, was travelling from Mangochi to Bembeke in Dedza District for business.
She said that upon reaching the Soko area, Mathews boarded a blue Honda Fit, registration number MZ 11858, which allegedly posed as a taxi and had three occupants, including the driver.
Daudi said after driving for a few minutes, the occupants allegedly activated the vehicle’s child-lock system, grabbed the victim’s laptop bag containing K3.8 million and forced him out of the vehicle.
She said Mathews screamed, attracting the attention of nearby people and that the the three suspects then allegedly fled on foot, abandoning the vehicle at the scene.
Daudi said members of the public alerted Mangochi Police, who responded and arrested Banda.
She said police also seized the vehicle and recovered K1.8 million.
She added that investigations established that the suspects allegedly hired the vehicle from Blantyre a few weeks before the incident for self-drive purposes, without the owner’s knowledge of their alleged criminal activities.
Banda is expected to appear in court to answer a robbery charge.
The vehicle is being kept at Mangochi Police Station as investigations continue to apprehend the two remaining suspects and recover the outstanding K2 million.
