Police Nab Mascom Battery Suspects
Pini Bothoko | Tuesday May 4, 2021 16:41
Lesetedi issued the advice following the arrest of three men; two Zimbabweans and a Motswana who were found with stolen Mascom batteries and cables valued at P100,000. The three are believed to be part of a crime syndicate.
The police seized batteries and cables from the trio’s houses in Mmopane and Gaborone North respectively. One of the suspects is an employee of a company subcontracted by Mascom to handle its technology services.
The CID boss said through their preliminary investigations they have established that some of the batteries were smuggled from Botswana to Zimbabwe through undesignated entry points. Mompoloki Mphoto, 33, and Zimbabweans, Praise Marimba, 33, and Francis Musuruvari, 42, are in custody and helping the police with investigations.
Lesetedi said efforts were ongoing to retrieve the remaining batteries as they suspect the trio might have been stealing the products for some time.
He said the three suspects were in possession of five big batteries that cost P13,000 each and eight small batteries valued at P4,000 each. He suspects the thefts could be behind frequent mobile network interruptions. Lesetedi added that one of the suspects was found in possession of keys that Mascom officials said belonged to one of their sites.
The keys went missing years ago, while in the custody of one of the Mascom subcontractor’s employees.
“This is an inside job because there have been no break-ins. One of the suspects is an employee of the sub-contracted company. We suspect that he stole the keys and they have been using them to open sites and steal goods belonging to Mascom. Investigations are ongoing to establish how long they have been opening sites and unlawfully taking valuables belonging to Mascom,” he said.
Lesetedi called on the business community to install monitoring devices in their valuable properties.
He urged businesses to prioritise security, stating that whenever expensive equipment is installed, security measures should be considered to guard against theft.
“The business community should help the police fight crime by being security conscious. They could do so through the use of CCTV cameras in order to monitor people’s movements in and around their businesses,” he said.
He pointed out that failing to put security devices or employ security officers on the property proved that the business community was not taking issues of security seriously.