Suspected robber mercilessly killed in Salima

Four Liwenga Building Contractors Company employees are in police custody for brutally killing a Lake Malawi fisherman on suspicion that he stole from them.

Police identified the suspects as Blessings Chiwalo, 27, Elias Phiri, 31, Joseph Kambalame, 30, and Lyson Banda, 35.

The four were contractors who were constructing a telecommunications tower for TNM at Lifuwu in Salima.

One witness, Imbani Amani, told police that he was one of the people who heard the screams as the car was cruising.

“We parted ways with the deceased at around 7 PM and I went straight to my house which is near the road.

“Then after some time, as me and my family were chatting on the verandah, we saw lights of a speeding car and a screaming voice “mayo ndikufa!”, but we could not really recognize it and we did not follow only to discover that our relative was missing that night,” said Amani.

Police identified the victim as Silika Auni, 42, from Mangwere Senior Chief Kuluunda Salima.

Police Public relations Officer for Salima, Gift Chitowe said the four are alleged to have committed the crime on 4th December 2015 and went on a run before they were apprehended on 5th December in Lilongwe.

“What we have gathered is that the four tied the deceased to a five ton lorry registration number DZ 3071 and pulled him with the truck at a speed, for a distance of more than a kilometer,” said Chitowe.

The police publicist explained that the body was found near the bridge in a state which indicated that it was dragged on a road at a high speed.

Meanwhile, an angry mob has threatened to destroy the tower which the four suspects were building and police have promised to intervene for protection.

However, some people in the area believe the deceased was one of the people who have been stealing at the construction site.

Police are yet to find the motive of the murder as the four suspects are not giving any information.

The Policesa said Chiwalo is from Dick Village Chief Kuntaja, Blantyre, Phiri hails from Mfutso village Chief Kachere Dedza, Joseph Kambalame is from Dongo Village Chief Mulolo, in Nsanje, and  Banda comes from  Kufunda Village Chief Kachere Dedza District.