The manager of the liquor outlet, Monica Mathopa, yesterday told Mmegi that at around 6.50pm of that evening two men armed with an AK47 and a hand gun barged into the store and ordered everyone to lie on the floor. She said the third gunman approached her in her office and demanded cash, while the fourth one guarded the door."I was entering the invoice when I was attacked. The robber was very violent. When he found no money in the cash-trunk he proceeded to hit me on the head with it. The store was full of customers who were held under siege and for their safety we told the thieves to take the money in the tills," she said.
Mothopa said the thieves took away the cash with the money trays and fled. She said the men were wearing face masks and could not be identified but they were conversing in Setswana."We later realised they were six in number, as the other two were holding back people outside the store hostage as well. The training manager received minor injuries in the process," Mathopa said. She explained that this was the sixth robbery in the store, but fortunately, other previous encounters were break-ins. She said the armed robbers left in two vehicles and she could only remember the silver Corolla. Central Police Station Commander, Superintendent Kevin Mookodi confirmed the robbery and said investigations were still ongoing. However, only the money trays were found abandoned in Extension 9. Meanwhile, five armed robbers who made away with cash amounting to P7,000 from Butterfield bakery in Village last Friday, have not been arrested. According to the police crime report, there has been an alarming increase of armed robbery in Botswana, since 2011. While 989 armed robberies were recorded in 2011, this year they have increased to 1,058 in a period of eight months.
