Gaborone bus rank crime worries the police
Pini Bothoko | Friday September 11, 2020 16:40
Being one of the busiest places in the city, the bus rank crime gives the police sleepless nights.
Borakanelo police station commander, Superintendent Amos Solomon raised the crimes concern in an interview with Mmegi following the murder of a 32-year-old Zimbabwean man at the bus rank on Tuesday evening.
Solomon said the police have to keep a step ahead of devious criminals who always come up with innovative ways to dispossess unsuspecting members of the public of their hard earned money and belongings.
“Yesterday around 18:30 we received a report that two men were fighting following a misunderstanding. Police rushed to the scene and found a 32-year-old man bleeding after he was stabbed with a sharp object on the neck. He was rushed to Princess Marina Hospital where doctors certified him dead on arrival,” he said.
The police boss also said a crime suspect, a 29-year-old Motswana man has been arrested and is currently in police custody while investigations are ongoing. He said when interrogated by the police on what lead to their fight the suspect alleged to have bought a phone from the deceased who later he ran away with his money.
“The suspect claims to have given the deceased the sum of P400 buying a mobile phone from him but he ran away with the money something that led to their fight. I am pleading with members of the public to refrain from buying things from the bus rank because usually when investigated those valuables would have been owned as a result of theft and other crimes. People should know that buying stolen goods is against the law,” he said.
Solomon raised a concern over escalating crime incidents at the bus rank. He said there is a lot of movement at the bus rank but most of such is done by criminals as they have established a gang of sophisticated thieves targets shoppers at the Bus rank, KB mall and Rail park mall.
The police boss said there has been a number of murder incidents in the past in which people were killed by a mob at the bus rank on allegations of pick pocketing and other theft related incidents.
“High number of unemployed people who frequently visit the bus rank exacerbates crime in my policing area. Pick pocketing and smash and grab remain a concern in this policing area especially at the bus rank,” he said.
He said women are the most targeted individuals because they are the ones who report high numbers of cases. He said usually they receive four to five cases of pick pocketing on women either their handbags or mobile phones snatched.
Solomon pleaded with members of the public to be cautious at all times when walking or doing shopping to avoid falling prey to criminals.