LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-The Malawi Police Service (MPS) in Lilongwe are keeping in custody 43-year-old Steve Phiri who posed as a taxi operator, robbing unsuspecting passengers of valuable property and cash.
Lilongwe Police Station publicist Hastings Chigalu told The Maravi Post that his office received many complaints about the suspect misconduct hence his arrest.
“We have been receiving complaints about Phiri and his three accomplices who are currently at large, on November 2, 2023, at Chitipi location at around 08:30 hours, attacked a certain person who boarded their vehicle as a taxi, and robbed him of a laptop and five iPhones, all valued at MK5.2 million.
“Recently, when the social media was awash with such reports, purportedly depicting a Honda Fit vehicle registration number LL 10780 which the suspects were using, Lilongwe Police detectives hit the ground with investigations,” said Chigalu.
He added, “The detectives managed to trace the owner who told the law enforcers that he owns a fleet of cars for hire, and said that the suspects acquired the said vehicle on such basis not knowing they were criminals.
“After days of manhunt, the law enforcers ambushed and arrested Phiri at Matchansi in Chilinde Township, on his way to change the car for another, after realizing that the LL 10780 vehicle had been widely circulated to be associated with criminal activities”.
Chigalu adds, “Then the detectives went after Phiri’s accomplices who sped off, running away from the law enforcers at the Kaphiri location before disappearing. Later, police managed to trace and recover the vehicle where it was hidden in Area 24.
“However, in a surprising twist of events, after learning that their accomplice, Phiri, and the vehicle were in the hands of Area 3 Police detectives, the runaway suspects anonymously informed police that had dumped one of the stolen laptops and three iPhones at a certain bottle store in Area 50 within the City”.
“Apart from the laptop and three iPhones, Lilongwe Police has also recovered numerous driving licenses, and national identity cards, among others, from the homes of the suspects, and owners have been successfully traced and contacted,” he said.
Meanwhile, the manhunt for the remaining suspects is underway.
Steve Phiri, who resides in Area 25, hails from Chinyakula Village, Traditional Authority (T.A) Kabunduri in Nkhata-Bay District.
