Two suspected armed robbers yesterday appeared at the Harare Magistrates Court over a US$78 550 heist.
Jonathan Tembo (26) and Roy Makunike (22) appeared before magistrate Stanford Mambanje, who remanded them in custody.
He advised them to apply for bail at the High Court.
Allegations are that sometime last month, Makunike, who is employed as a driver at Satguru Travel and Tours located at Eastgate Mall, hatched a plan to rob Subhajit Jana, who works for the same company.
He allegedly teamed up with Rangarirai Manika and Webster Nyarambi, who are still at large.
The trio roped in two other people to execute the robbery on their behalf since they were employees at the company and could be easily identified.
The trio, acting in connivance with Tembo and Dyson Kochelani, who is also still at large, went to the mall’s basement armed with knives and a pepper spray.
They switched off the lights while waiting for Jana to arrive.
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They were also waiting for a signal from their accomplices, who are Satguru employees.
Meanwhile, Jana, who is an accountant and tourism manager at Satguru Travels, took US$78 550 from a cabinet and put it in a satchel as he wanted to bank it.
Jana reportedly asked Manika to drive him to Borrowdale to bank the money.
Jana and Manika went to their car in the mall basement and the latter unlocked the doors of their vehicle so they could get on board.
Before Manika could drive off, Tembo and Dyson Kochelani confronted them and pepper-sprayed Jana.
The robbers also allegedly pepper sprayed Manika to conceal his involvement in the robbery. They then tied up the two using tie cables.
They allegedly robbed Jana of his mobile phones as well as the US$78 550. The court heard that they also robbed Manika of his mobile phone and US$2 before disappearing.
Jana later untied himself, freed Manika and they reported the matter to the police. Investigations led to the arrest of the accused persons.
