FIVE suspected armed robbers posing as passengers yesterday struck a Beitbridge-bound Blue Circle bus and robbed passengers of their cash and valuables before firing a shot and disappearing into the bush.
The robbery occurred at around 2:30am just after the turn-off to Neshuro in Mwenezi district, about 165km north of Beitbridge.
Masvingo police provincial spokesperson Inspector Kudakwashe Dhewa said he was yet to confirm from Mwenezi Police, but had seen a message circulating on social media.
“I am not in the office and will check as soon as I get there,” Dhewa said.
However, the director of the bus company, Roy Gonyora, confirmed the robbery and expressed concern that his drivers did not heed instructions on where to stop.
“You tell them things, but they do not heed to instructions. They must not drop passengers in remote places at night,” he said.
A message that went viral on WhatsApp said the five suspects boarded the bus at Mbare bus terminus in Harare and paid their fares to Beitbridge.
At Lundi, 100km south of Masvingo, one of the men requested to be dropped off just after Neshuro turn-off, where someone waited for him. As they got to the place, there was a man waiting by the road side.
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The suspected robber who had asked to disembark then signalled his four companions as if they all wanted to drop off.
Just as the bus stopped, the conductor went out first and the suspected robber, brandishing a pistol, ordered him back into the bus as the other four; simultaneously drew out knives and ordered the driver to get off the highway.
“The driver was ordered to turn left at Vilivili and instructed to switch off all lights. All passengers and crew were ordered to surrender cash. They threatened to kill anyone who did not surrender their belongings,” the WhatsApp message read.
Soon after the robbery, one of the men fired a shot in the air and they disappeared into the darkness.
Some bus crews are now using metal detection devices on all passengers boarding their buses. However, it could not be established if the Blue Circle bus had a metal detector, just like other buses.
