Nata Police Decry Rising Crime
Innocent Selatlhwa | Monday January 29, 2018 10:06
According to Nata Police acting station commander, Phetogo Philimon such criminals are hardly ever brought to book.
“Crimes such as poaching, stocktheft and house-breaking are on the rise in our policing area and it becomes difficult to arrest perpetrators as they deal with some of those driving goods trucks to evade us. We have in the last three months recorded three cases of people arrested with elephant tusks,” he said.
Philimon said they have studied a trend whereby the tusks could be gotten elsewhere and transactions take place in lodges in the village and goods are concealed in trucks, which are not easily searchable.
“We also have a number of cases where herdboys find the tusks on carcasses and report to us. However, some become tempted and we end up catching them trying to sell to the dealers while others manage to sell before we could make arrests,” he said.
He said they have since decided to use veterinary offices to conduct thorough searches for tusks and any other goods that could have been stolen.
On stocktheft, Philimon said they are worried by a growing trend of cattle owners abandoning their livestock in the hands of herdboys without even branding them.
“We currently have four recent cases where mostly thieves would brand these cattle and sell them. Sometimes they use other people’s branding and if no one complains, they go on to sell them as theirs,” he said.
He called on the farmers to take responsibility of their livestock as the police cannot manage on their own.
He said they have since started an association that brings together farmers to come up with solutions to fight stock theft.
On a separate issue, Philimon said they were concerned by increasing rape cases in the village with culprits mostly being former partners.
“We recorded six rape cases in the last three months with four of the suspects being ex-lovers. They usually follow their culprits from drinking places and rape them, then they would tell the police that there was an agreement.
“We continue to educate the public on the dangers of going alone to their drinking spots as it exposes them (to danger),” he said.