MIDWEEK REPORTER
CHIPINGE-A butchery operator in Chipinge has been arrested for allegedly buying stolen cattle following a night spirited trekking by a 16 year old alert herdboy.
According to Manicaland province acting police spokesperson, Assistant Inspector Wiseman Chinyoka, Simon Mandhlazi (30) of Garahwa village under Chief Garahwa in Chipinge was arrested for buying stolen cattle.
Chinyoka told The Midweek Watch that The 16 year old boy from Hakwata village penned his grandmother’s eight cattle and retired to bed.
At around 9pm Maxwell Chawebeta (27), Felix Makuyana (25) and Tinashe Makuyana (29) all of Makoho village under Chief Musikavanhu drove a motorbike to Hakwata village and hatched a plan to steal a beast.
Two of the cattle rustlers allegedly drove one of the beasts from the pen to Garahwa business centre while Chawebeta proceeded on the motorbike to meet the buyer.
The deal was quickly concluded where it was allegedly agreed that the beast would be sold for R3000 with Mandhlazi paying a deposit of R1000.
At around 3am, the 16 year old boy woke up to go to the fields with a span of cattle only to find one beast missing.
He followed the spoor/hoof marks which led him to Garahwa business centre where some people informed him that the beast had already been slaughtered by Mandhlazi after the description he gave matched the one they had seen.
The boy reported the matter to the police and army officers patrolling the Zimbabwe-Mozambique border who went on to arrest Mandhlazi, Tinashe and Felix Makuyana.
Maxwell is still at large and Chinyoka is appealing for information that may lead to the arrest of the suspect.
