23 Aug 2022

 Four unidentified armed men on Monday morning reportedly stormed Molepolole government revenue offices, blasted a safe and made away with more than P50 000 cash.

Officer Commanding District No. 11 Snr Supt Modise Gabatshwane revealed in an interview that the incident happened Monday around 1:00am.

It is reported that after forcing entry into the premises, the quartet tied up the three security guards who were on duty and dumped them in a nearby bush behind the premises.

It is alleged that the men broke a window and forced entry inside the building to where the safe was, blasted it with something suspected to be an explosive and stole more than P50 000 cash.

In another separate matter, Snr Supt Gabatswane confirmed another incident on Monday in Lephepe Sub-landboard where four unidentified men also forced entry into the premises by cutting the boundary fence and tied two security officers who were on duty. The unidentified men reportedly beat up the security officers and forced entry into the building where they managed to locate keys for the sub-land board’s Hilux double cab GD6 and stole it, taking the security officers with them.

He said the two security officers were located the following day by a passer-by at Mokgenene settlement in the Central District with injuries.

Investigations continue for these two incidents and the culprits for both incidents are still at large.

Meanwhile, Snr Supt Gabatshwane observed that such crimes were on the rise and cautioned the public to be vigilant. He said since ATMs were now physically manned by police and the Botswana Defence Force officers, robbers changed tactic and strategy and were targeting government institutions.

Snr Supt Gabatshwane said police were working extra hard, doing night patrols but were thin on the ground with limited resources to combat the rising criminal activities.

He nonetheless assured the public that all police officers were incorporated in patrol teams to beef up security. ENDS