HARARE – Two soldiers are due to appear in court on Tuesday facing charges of murder and armed robbery after US$40,000 was taken during a home invasion in the Hatfield neighbourhood of Harare.
Lameck Kabara from the Zimbabwe National Defence College and Christopher Charuma, who is with the Air Force of Zimbabwe based at Manyame airbase, were arrested on Sunday night over the December 24 robbery and murder of Elvis Chijaka.
Police are also holding a third suspect, Perseverence Chihota, a civilian.
Police said Chijaka was shot dead after finding a robbery in progress following a call from his sister who was inside the house. Two men wearing balaclavas and firing from an AK47 rifle also wounded Brian Chijaka, who is being treated at a Harare Hospital.
The raiders drove off in a white Mercedes Benz Compressor C200 after ransacking the house and stealing US$40,000.
Investigators recovered 25 spent cartridges from an AK47 rifle.
The armed robbery and murder was not too far from the Chadcombe house of Joseph Nemaisa, a retired police detective who shot and killed three armed robbers, among them two soldiers, earlier this month.
The armed robbers were holding Nemaisa’s family hostage when he shot three dead through a window, while two that escaped were later arrested.
The police investigation that followed revealed that rogue soldiers were running armed robbery rings from the army barracks. Police recovered several illegal guns from a ceiling at One Commando army barracks.
