Police recover MK11 million stolen cash

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Central West Region (CWR) police in Mchinji on Tuesday recovered MK11 million about two hours after the money was stolen.

Confirming the development was Central West Region police publicist Inspector Alfred Chimthere who identified the suspects as Sultan Angolile Mwambete and Joshua Singiombo Kibale both from Tanzania.

Inspector Chimthere said on Tuesday morning at around 10:00 the complainant Brian Phiri who is a taxi driver was sent by his boss to deposit the said cash at one of the banks at the Mchinji boma.

On his way to the bank, Phiri offered a lift to the two Tanzanians who also disembarked at the bank premises allegedly to buy United States dollars.

However, network hitches at the bank forced Phiri to consider visiting another bank for the transaction.

Phiri then stopped at a nearby pharmacy store to buy medicine and locked the car, leaving behind the laptop bag which contained the money but upon his return from the shop, he found the car door open and the bag had disappeared.

The onlookers at the scene confided to him that two people, whom they thought were his friends, came on a blue Mazda Demio and sped off carrying his bag.

The taxi driver later rushed to Mchinji Police station to report the matter where police promptly launched a manhunt and wired intelligence to possible exit points of Kamwendo, Kapiri and Mkanda, including the road to the Zambian border.

At exactly 11:30 hours, four Police traffic officers who had erected a checkpoint at Kapiri, intercepted the marked Demio, registration number MHG 4909, being driven by Jack who claimed that he was hired by the two Tanzanians.

The suspects were immediately arrested on the spot and the MK11 million cash was recovered in its entirety.

Sultan Angolile Mwambete, 52, and Joshua Singiombo Kibale, 57, hail from Rungwe village, Traditional Authority Mwakuysa in Mbeya district, Tanzania.

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