16 Jan 2025

Police have shot dead a 35-year-old suspected robber and are looking for three more following a reported hostage incident at a guest house in Kasane this morning.

In an interview with Officer Commanding District No 7, senior superintendent Meshack Pulenyane stated that they received a call in the wee hours of this morning reporting that robbers had invaded one of the rooms in a guest house in Plateau location and held a Chinese businessman and his wife hostage.

He said police officers rushed to the scene where they encountered a Toyota Run X vehicle fleeing the scene.

A scuffle then ensued between police and the four suspects, according to the police boss, resulting in the fatal shooting of one of the suspects who was later certified dead at the hospital. However, three managed to flee the scene.

Senior Supt. Pulenyane indicated that the robbers stole cash amounting to P20 000 from the couple while a bag containing coins amounting to P5 000 was recovered in the Run X vehicle.

Mr Pulenyane said police had impounded the Run X vehicle with Botswana registration numbers to assist in their investigations.

Moreover, he said the three suspects at large were believed to be Batswana because they spoke fluent Setswana during their scuffle with the police.

He pleaded with the public to assist police by furnishing any information that could lead to the arrest of the escapees.

Furthermore, he asked the public to help identify the body of the dead suspect which is lying at Kasane Primary Hospital.

Senior Supt. Pulenyane pointed that it was a second robbery targeting a businessman in two months noting that another Chinese businessman was robbed in December at a lodge in Kazungula.

He emphasised the importance of whistleblowing to report any suspicious activities or people in order to interject crime before it occurred. ENDS