July arrested for Palapye Stanbic robbery

BAME PIET
Staff Writer | Wednesday December 21, 2011 00:00

Approximately P410,900, 100 Euros, 225 Pounds, and RSA8,710 were stolen at gunpoint. Senior Superintendent of Botswana Public Relations Unit, Dipheko Motube, confirmed that July was arrested last week and appeared before Palapye Magistrate court the same week.He is in police custody pending his next appearance on December 30, Motube said.

However, Motube would not discuss further the details of July's arrest only stating that he was with two accomplices who are still at large and being hunted by the police.

Meanwhile, the police deputy spokesman said that there is a spate of motor vehicle breakings at parking spaces in the major shopping malls in Gaborone - Game City, Rail Park Mall, Kagiso Centre in Broadhurst, Riverwalk, and Molapo Crossing.

He said that Christmas shoppers often leave their cars locked in parking lots, only to find them open upon their return and their belongings stolen. He said that the car owners often find no signs of forced entry.

He said some criminal syndicates have also turned these malls into their operating grounds where they pretend to be hiring people for some jobs, for which they are to be interviewed for if they hand over their belongings to their mates.

'After you have handed your belongings to the other person, the other one will take you to a secluded place claiming to be going to conduct the interview with you. They then leave you there,' he said.

Motube cautioned that people should double-check whether their cars are locked after using the remote-controlled car-lock system.

He also cautioned that there are criminals who follow individuals who withdraw huge sums of money from banks to any destination where they will park their cars.

'They follow their unaware victims wherever they go, and once they leave that cash in the car that's when the criminals will take the opportunity to break into the car.

People should desist from leaving their valuables in their cars and it is only wise that they go with their belongings wherever they go, and not leave them in cars,' he said.

They also target electrical appliances such laptops, cellphones and others. Motube said that they are investigating the existence of a device, which some criminals use to block the remote-controlled locking system of vehicles.

As Christmas day nears, the police have also recorded a number of cases involving funds raised through Metshelo - a social fundraising system in which members make monthly contributions to be shared at the end of the year.Motube said some members of Metshelo, refuse to hand over the collected money to other members and this has resulted in serious disputes, some of which have nearly turned violent.

He said that it is difficult for the police to handle these cases because they are classified as civil cases that should be settled either at a civil court by the parties themselves.