Police Cagey About Escort Bill
Pini Bothoko | Tuesday November 2, 2021 06:00
Questions have been raised as to who funds the cost of the escort as armed robbers continue to stage heists even during the day, overpowering security guards and making off with large sums of money something that has forced the police to provide escorts.
But the Botswana Police Service public relations officer, assistant commissioner, Dipheko Motube was cagey with details when The Monitor sought to know who was footing the escort bill. “Yes, we have started escorting cash-in-transit vehicles but I cannot discuss the matter of who is paying for the escort,” Motube said briefly. Motube added that the escorts are for an indefinite period.
In a recent incident that left many shell-shocked, two Batswana and two South Africans attacked and overpowered G4S security personnel and the police in Mogoditshane and, in the process, took off with over P2 million. The quartet had made off with P2,310,000 of which P2,110,000 was recovered during their arrest. Two guns belonging to the police that the criminals took during the robbery were also recovered. The police are still looking for the fifth suspect who is believed to have gotten away with the missing P200,000.
The suspect allegedly fled the crime scene with a smoke box containing the missing cash. In addition to the armed robbery charge, the quartet also faces further counts of unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition. In another recent armed robbery incident, three armed men recently pounced on supermarkets in Shoshong and Serowe and made off with an undisclosed amount of cash.
During one of those suspects’ arrests, the police recovered a loaded pistol and cash amounting to P20,000 believed to be proceeds of crime.