THREE men from Njube suburb in Bulawayo were last week dragged to the magistrates’ court facing two counts of theft of copper cables at Chesa Forestry Commission Plantation.
George Ngwenya (36), Salvation Sibanda (35) and Lewis Ngwenya (26) were not asked to plead when they appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Vakayi Chikwekwe on Friday last week who remanded them in custody to May 3 for bail consideration.
It is the State’s case that on April 14 this year, the three, in the company of Welcome Mzizi who is still at large, hatched a plan to steal copper cables from Chesa Forestry Commission Plantation in Bulawayo.
The quartet went to the plantation armed with a mattock, bolt cutter, a shovel, a cable cutter and a hacksaw.
The court heard that the quartet dug up an armoured copper cable which stretched from the mainline to the feeder line and hid it within the plantation.
On the following day, they stole 40 metres of armoured copper cable which they cut from another powerline and also hid it within the premises.
The suspects returned to the plantation on April 16 on the same mission, but was disturbed by plantation employees and they fled from the scene leaving a shovel.
The plantation workers reportedly launched a manhunt and apprehended George, Sibanda and Lewis and Mzizi managed to escape.
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The workers recovered the mattock, shovel and a hacksaw. They handed over the suspects to the police AT Hillside Police Station.
The trio went with the detectives to the plantation for indications where police recovered pieces of armoured cable.
The value of the stolen armoured cables was estimated at US$3 500 and nothing was recovered.
The State also indicated that the recovered tools will be used in court as exhibits.
