A GANG of more than 20 men reportedly invaded Tonemark Gold Mine in Wedza and attacked workers before stealing more than 11 tonnes of gold ore.
by Jairos Saunyama
The incident happened on Friday and police are hunting for the robbers.
According to reports, the robbers, who left the workers nursing injuries, ransacked the mine and loaded 11 tonnes of gold ore into their lorry before disappearing.
The value of the stolen gold ore has not been established.
Efforts to get a comment from acting Mashonaland East Province police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Tendai Mwanza were fruitless yesterday.
It is reported that on March 10, at around 1am, 11 mine workers were asleep when more than 20 unknown male adults, armed with knives, machetes, baton sticks and pick handles, forcibly entered the mine compound.
It is reported that they began assaulting the workers all over their bodies.
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After the assault, the accused force-marched the 11 out of their bedrooms into one big room where they handcuffed two of them while the rest were tied with electric cables on both hands before demanding cash, cellphones and gold.
The accused then searched the workers’ houses and took their cellphones, among other things.
Two of the workers reportedly then led some of the robbers to the mine office while the other suspects remained on guard. The robbers broke the mine office door and a magazine box inside using an iron bar and took 17 grammes of gold, digital gold scale and mercury.
It is also reported that they took a shotgun which they broke into pieces. At the same time, some of the suspects untied four workers and force-marched them to a 30-tonne container which had gold ore.
The robbers broke the key and gained entry into the container before ordering the workers to load 11 tonnes of gold ore into their white truck whose registration number is unknown.
The workers later untied themselves and made a police report at Wedza Police Station.
Police attended the scene and recovered pick handles. The injured workers were treated at Wedza District Hospital and discharged.
