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Suspected robbers snatch 25m/- from businessman
2006-01-19 09:06:03
By Mwinyi Sadallah, Zanzibar
Suspected armed robbers yesterday ambushed a famous businessman in Zanzibar, Conal De Mello and made away with his briefcase containing 25m/-
De Mello was headed for a bureau de change when three people armed with pistols accosted him and threatened to shoot him if he did not surrender the briefcase.
Mjini Magharibi Regional Police Commander George Kizuguto confirmed the robbery incident which took place on Shangani Street, Mji Mkongwe.
He said the suspects laid a trap near Eagle Bureau De Change and as the trader was approaching the area, they shot in the air to scare him before ordering him to surrender the briefcase.
Kizuguto said after the robbers snatched the brief case they sped away in a car that was parked at Shangani area.
In desperation, the businessman hired a taxi and mounted a chase, drove past the High Court area at Mnazi Mmoja but his efforts did not bear fruit.
According to the RPC no one was hurt in the incident, adding that the police were tracking down the suspects.
Eye witnesses said three men, two of them wielding pistols ambushed idlers in the area as they sought to besiege the trader.
’They shot in the air to disperse people who were attempting to rescue the businessman,’ an eye witness said.
Mohammed Sultan, a businessman in the area said that after the incident, the robbery suspects fled into the bush at Mji Mkongwe.
The robbery prompted closure of shops as scared shopkeepers scampered for safety.
Police arrived at the scene minutes later, but could not do anything as the suspects had already vanished.
The Minister for National Security and Public Safety has given police officers green light to shoot suspected robbers on the spot.
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