Maravi

Monze cops fight running battles with mourners

Monze cops fight running battles with mourners
By George Zulu in Monze
Mon 26 Apr. 2010, 03:00 CAT

MONZE police on Wednesday fought running battles with mourners from Manungu and Zambia compounds after the residents attempted to destroy a shop belonging to a businessman they suspected of murdering a three-year-old boy. Problems started after the residents found the deceased floating in an unfinished water well behind his father’s house, two days after he went missing.

One of his friends told the father of the deceased that he had left his friend at the named shop where he was given talk time for sweeping the corridors as payment but never returned home until the day they found him floating in the water well.

This angered the residents who around 14:00 hours on Wednesday during burial started organising themselves when word went round the compounds that a named man owning a shop in the area was in the habit of hiding children for ritual purposes.

Mourners went straight to the named shop and found that the person they had followed had already gone to report the matter to police who later arrived in riot gear to disperse the angry mob that had already started throwing stones at the shop.
The owner of the shop remained at the police station for safety.

Police fired tear gas canisters at the mob and closed down shops and bars in the area.
The battle lasted for about eight hours.

Calm was restored in the compounds after police intensified patrols and blocked roads leading to the compounds.

Some innocent residents had to run away from their houses after they were chocked by tear gas which was fired at them by the police and only returned home after calm had been restored in the area.

Southern Province police chief Lemmy Kajoba could not be reached for a comment as his phone was switched off.

Labels: MONZE, POLICE

posted by MrK @ 2:39 PM