BY Richard Muponde/ Tafadzwa Kachiko
IN a dramatic movie style heist, a gang of six masked armed men pounced on illegal forex dealers at Makoni Shopping Centre in Chitungwiza yesterday and grabbed a bag loaded with cash before kidnapping three money changers.
The incident reportedly happened just after 2pm.
According to witnesses, one of the vehicles had four armed occupants with an AK47 rifle, while the other had two.
It was reported that on arrival, four of the men disembarked from their vehicle and approached a parked car outside Makoni Chicken Inn.
Police sources said the robbers opened the door to the car and grabbed a sack full of money which they loaded into their getaway car.
The other two kidnapped three forex dealers and sped off towards Unit G.
Three forex dealers who were left at the scene mobilised and made a follow-up, but quickly aborted the chase after the gang fired 15 shots at them, but no one was injured.
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The vehicles were later spotted heading towards Harare and no arrests have been made.
Witnesses identified the forex dealers as Simba and Jairos, adding that the robbers were driving a Ford Ranger and Toyota Allion.
“Their faces were masked and the way they fired shots showed that they are well-trained people,” one witness said.
He said they suspected that the robbers were working with other forex dealers.
Another eyewitness said Chitungwiza CID officers reacted after several minutes and fired gunshots before nabbing at least seven dealers for investigations.
Police sources close to the investigations confirmed the incident before referring questions to national police spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi, who said he was attending a workshop.
