A primary school teacher at Bwabwali Primary School in Chikwawa is in police custody along with three others suspected to have stolen building materials worth over K700, 000.
The teacher Lapken Raphael was arrested on Thursday alongside school committee chairperson Tinason Bello aged 35, watchman Ephraim James aged 25 and builder William Hassan aged 27.
Chikwawa police spokesperson Foster Benjamin said Raphael, Bello and James connived to steal the building materials in April, 2018. The items include iron sheets, paint, cement and timber.
According to Village Headwoman Paulosi, the school got the said items from the district council under Constituency Development Fund (CDF) meant for the construction of two teachers’ houses.
The other three suspects connived and sold five iron sheets to Hassan who was building a feeding shelter at the school.
The theft was later revealed and this prompted some committee members to act on the matter.
All the five iron sheets were recovered and Police apprehended the four suspects and charged them accordingly. They will be taken to court soon after all paperwork is finalised.
In a related development, police in the district on Thursday night recovered a motorcycle that was used in a foiled theft at Phata canefield.
Unknown criminals sneaked into the sugar plantation and started vandalising pipes. Security guards alerted the police after engaging the vandals in a stone-throwing battle.
When police officers arrived, the vandals escaped, leaving behind their motorcycle bearing a Mozambican registration number PAZ 581-13. Police immediately recovered both the motorbike and the pipes.
