Court revokes armed robbery suspects' bails

The accused, Odirile Mahudiri Ofithile, 42, of Phaleng ward in Shoshong and Ronald Dipholo, 50, of Podipedi ward in Bobonong, had their bails revoked after they were reasonably suspected of committing similar offences – one of their bail conditions that the court had previously set. Ofithile and Dipholo were not in court when their co-accused, Mogomotsi Thupane, 38, Thato Moatshe, 33, Ronnie Sanana, 42, and Derrick Masukula, 43, appeared in court for mention. Masukula, an agent of the Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS), is currently on interdiction after he was implicated in the Choppies armed robbery case in Francistown.

The accused are implicated in the Choppies Supermarket robbery at Ngilichi House in Francistown. The state alleges that the accused robbed Choppies Supermarket along Haskins Street of money amounting to P181,180.35 using a pistol and knife on August 1, 2020. During the robbery, the state alleges that the accused also stole Botswana Telecommunications (BTC) Corporation Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards worth P80 and Mascom SIM cards worth P80.