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NewsDay

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Death exposes cops

News
Midlands police bosses are allegedly in the eye of a storm for reportedly trying to “cover up” the death of an illegal gold panner after he was trapped in a disused mineshaft at the heavily-guarded gold-rich Sherwood Block in Kwekwe last Thursday. According to police insiders who declined to be named, the 25-year-old gold panner […]

Midlands police bosses are allegedly in the eye of a storm for reportedly trying to “cover up” the death of an illegal gold panner after he was trapped in a disused mineshaft at the heavily-guarded gold-rich Sherwood Block in Kwekwe last Thursday.

According to police insiders who declined to be named, the 25-year-old gold panner only identified as Leonard Basikiti from Gokwe had been allowed into the area by police officers guarding the area to pan for the precious mineral for a fee.

Even police records at Kwekwe Rural Police Station confirmed that Basikiti had been allowed to pan for gold in a disused mineshaft with two other accomplices when the shaft collapsed, killing him instantly.

Part of the record explaining the cause of Basikiti’s death reads: “The deceased was panning for gold in a makeshift shaft at Caprum Mine ‘Hasha’ Sherwood with two colleagues when it collapsed and trapped him underground.”

A post mortem carried out at Kwekwe General Hospital on Monday by a Dr J Mahachi certified the cause of death as asphyxia due to trapping. Basikiti’s death has been entered under death record 1062/12.

Kwekwe police spokesman Detective Sergeant Israel Mhondiwa said he was not aware of the case.

“Nothing of that nature has been brought to my attention and, therefore, I cannot comment or provide any information,” Mhondiwa said. But police insiders said top cops were making frantic efforts to keep the matter under wraps for fear of being exposed for working in cahoots with illegal gold panners.

“Officers stationed at Sherwood are from Gweru and everything that happens there is now controlled from the provincial office, so nobody at Kwekwe Central is in the picture of what is happening. This is bad publicity for the police,” said one of the sources.

Thousands of illegal gold panners invaded the mine late last year following reports of a major gold find at the site in what was later referred to as the “Kwekwe gold rush”.