|
Police on Wednesday night arrested over 40 people, including five women, in a night operation dubbed ‘Operation Jupiter’ that was jointly conducted by police from Limbe, Bangwe and Bvumbwe stations.
Limbe police public relations officer Chifundo Kansunje said on Thursday the operation was conducted to crack down on thugs who have been terrorising residential areas around Limbe.
She said a lot of property has been stolen and some lives lost in the spate of the armed robberies that have taken place in the past few weeks and the police want to restore peace in the areas.
The police conducted their operation in Bvumbwe, Chigumula, Bangwe, Namatapa, Mvula, Zingwangwa, Kachere and Mudi, and arrested people they found moving at odd hours without proper reason.
“Some townships have experienced a series of armed robberies and some people have lost their lives in Bangwe and Zingwangwa so we decided to conduct the Operation Jupiter in order to sweep the city clean. We will continue to do that for sometime and during day police in civilian attire are also patrolling the area. This is an effort to compliment the 997 rapid response system,” said Kansunje.
She said the five women who were caught were suspected to be working with criminal gangs and will be charged with rogue and vagabond while the other men will be charged with various counts depending on the manner they were caught.
“These people were found at odd hours and most of them are criminals and we know them. We will crack down on them until the town is clean. We are keeping them in our cells and we will take them to court later,” she said.
The police also impounded some bags of chamba and an electric motor during the operation.
Civil Liberties Committee Executive Director Emmie Chanika hailed the police for attempting to restore peace in townships but warned that they risk being sued by the women that were rounded up.
“The gesture is good but the police must be careful with the way they handle the suspects. If the women did something wrong let them be answerable and if the police were wrong they also risk being sued by the women,” said Chanika.
|
