Lilongwe, February 8: Police in Kanengo Thursday night rounded up 6 suspected criminals in a sweeping exercise conducted in Area 50 following a series of armed robberies in surrounding areas.
Lilongwe Police publicist, Kingsley Dandaula, told Malawi News Agency (Mana) that the 6, whose ages range from 16 to 34, were apprehended in an exercise conducted by a special Criminal Investigation Team set up at the station to flush out notorious criminals in the city.
“We have set up a special team of investigators and following a series of reports on robberies with violence and burglary in Areas 49, 25, 18, 47 and surrounding areas, the team carried out an operation Thursday night and apprehended the six men in Area 50 following tip-offs from the public,” explained Dandaula.
He disclosed that some of the suspects have already been linked to recent robberies in some of the mentioned areas.
Dandaula identified the six suspects as Boniface Mandala, 27, and Jonathan Malunga 16, both from Mwanyimba Village T/A Chauma, Dedza; Miliyasi Wisdom, 34, of Khalapathumba Village, T/A Malenga, Ntchisi; and David Kanzonga, 20, of Tonge Village, T/A Khongoni, Lilongwe.
The other two are Chipiliro Kamoto, 20, from Kamoto Village, T/A Makhuwira, Chikwawa, and 24-year-old Luka Sambani from Nyadza Village, T/A Santhe, Kasungu.
The men have been charged with burglary and robbery with violence contrary to respective Sections 309 and 301 of the Penal Code, according to Dandaula.
He added that the six suspects were on the ‘wanted’ list of Kanengo Police and that they would be transferred there for further investigations.
From end February, a spate of armed robberies swept through Areas 49, 50, and 25 where dozens of armed men terrorized residents and community policing men by hacking and robbing them of whatever they had in their possession.
