POLICE have intensified their blitz on unlicensed taxis operating from undesignated points in Harare after a police officer was reportedly crushed during a similar raid on Sunday.
BY OBEY MANAYITI/SILENCE CHARUMBIRA
Police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba confirmed the incident yesterday, saying police would not be intimidated by those operating taxis illegally.
In a statement, Charamba said a police officer on duty was killed when he hung onto the bonnet of a Toyota Raum operating illegally at the corner of Robert Mugabe Road and Chiremba Road before the driver fled.
Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba
“Instead of stopping, the driver of the Toyota Raum tried to run over the police officer, but he jumped and clung onto the bonnet. At the intersection of Robert Mugabe Road and Chiremba Road, the Toyota Raum sideswiped a Nissan X-Trail and the police officer fell onto the tarmac and sustained head injuries, bruises on hands and a dislocated right leg.
“The driver of the Toyota Raum did not stop. The police officer was taken to Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals where he later passed on,” Charamba said, adding that the driver was still at large.
“We are doing a tough exercise and we are very aggressive about it.
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“People are complaining about that, but we don’t want people phoning the police about this. The exercise has been ongoing for three weeks now.”
Charamba said police were worried about bad driving habits where private vehicles and commuter omnibuses drove against one-way lanes and went through red traffic lights in a bid to outdo police officers.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) has accused the ZRP of fuelling malicious damage to property by smashing offending drivers’ vehicle windscreens.
“ZLHR condemns any form of reckless driving and any breach of traffic laws by public transporters that are being witnessed on the roads of Zimbabwe,” ZLHR said.
“Where such duty is not upheld, it is indeed the constitutional duty of the police to intervene and protect other road users and innocent bystanders. However, the police are equally obliged by law to intervene in such circumstances in a reasonable manner that does not lead to harmful effects extending to innocent bystanders.”
