Police foil Rail Park robbery
Pini Bothoko | Tuesday June 20, 2017 16:35
The incident follows a recent spate of robberies in and around Gaborone that led to arrest of six suspected armed robbers.
Borakanelo police station commander, superintendent Mothusi Phadi told Mmegi in an interview that they arrested two Batswana men aged 25 years while three other escaped.
Phadi said the police who were patrolling the area managed to intercept the heist before the robbers could gain entry into the shops.
He said the officers noticed unusual movement sat the back of Pep store and when approaching they discovered that the burglars had already destroyed the door.
“We took them by surprise. They didn’t expect that we were on patrol and monitoring the mall,” Phadi said.
He said they retrieved a blasting gel and other house-breaking equipment (like side cutters and nail remover) during their arrest.
He said they also discovered a security guard tied up.
He said the suspects are currently in police custody helping the police with investigations.
“According to the suspects, they wanted to gain entry into Pep store ceiling and use it to gain access into the Liquorama, which was the target. They had planned to go and blast the safe.”
Phadi revealed that one of the suspects is currently on bail.
“The suspect has pending robbery cases before Ramotswa, Borakanelo and Mochudi police stations,” Phadi said.
He appealed to the public for any information that could help in arresting the remaining three suspects.
He said he was concerned by recent spike in armed robberies where huge sums of money and other properties were stolen.
“We are concerned about it, especially where retailers are robbed and thieves walk away with large sums of money,” Phadi said.
Phadi pleaded with the business community to tighten their security and consider installing CCTV cameras.
He said they suspect criminals have established collaboration with some people working in these businesses.
“We usually suspect an inside job when shops are robbed, as our investigations always reveal what appears to be a connection between insiders and criminals.
Liquorama was the target and they appeared to be well informed that there was cash in the safe,” Phadi said.
He also called on the business community not to keep huge sums of money in their shops to avoid being targeted by criminals.