THREE notorious bandits suspected to have taken part in armed robberies at various banks have been dead after being killed by their colleagues during an ambush at Vikindu in Mkuranga District.
At same time police in Dar es Salaam
have seized 23 firearms with 835 rounds of ammunitions, three bullet
proof vests, 48 handcuffs, 12 radio calls and police uniforms after
searching their house.
The Dar es Salaam Special Zone
Commissioner of Police, Mr Simon Sirro, told reporters in the city
yesterday that the incident occurred on September 3 while the suspects
were arrested in separate areas in the city, including Mbagala, Keko and
Kawe.
He said the suspects were also involved
in the 35m/- robbery at the offices of Matrix International Company at
Sophia House in Chang’ombe, Temeke Municipality, on August 29. They were
among the 10 suspects wore green police uniforms and commanded the
Chinese director of the company to give them money before they
disappeared with the loot in a Toyota Noah vehicle with fake
registration number T 549 BPK.
“After that incident, the police
launched an investigation until the afternoon of September 3 when they
arrested the suspects. After the arrest, the suspects showed the police
the house they had rented as their launching pad for carrying out
crimes, which is located at Mbezi Beach in Kinondoni Municipality,”
Commissioner of Police (CP) Sirro narrated.
MrSirro further explained that the
police went to inspect the house and found three Sub-Machine Guns
(SMGs), eight empty and 120 rounds of ammunitions, three shotguns and
130 bullets, 16 pistols with 548 bullets and 12 radio calls with three
chargers.
Other items that were found in the house
were three binoculars, 45 plastic handcuffs, three iron handcuffs,
three bullet proof vests, 37 blanks, a scissor for cutting metals, a
tool box for cleaning weapons, a hammer, a sword and CCTV server, a
Toyota Noah with registration number T 950 DGC having a fake
registration number T 549 BPK and a Toyota Alphad with registration
number T 987 CLH.
According to CP Sirro, the suspects have
confessed to have been involved in the robbery incident at the Habib
African Bank and Stanbic Bank in 2014. “After interrogations, the
suspects confessed to have hidden other weapons at VikinduForest in
Mkuranga,” he added.
The police took the suspects to the
Vikindu Forest at night. Unfortunately, when arrived in the area, they
were ambushed by hiding bandits who opened fire and killed their own
colleagues who delayed to lie down as the police did.
It was at that point when the police
replied by shooting in the direction where the bullets came from after
which they managed to advance, coming across a Sub-Machine Gun (SMG)
that had been abandoned in the forest with no bullets in it.
The three suspects were shot and
seriously injured on their chests and stomach. They died on the way
while being rushed to Muhimbili National Hospital for medical treatment.
Their names have been withheld to facilitate investigations.
CP Sirro also said they were
interrogating more than seven suspected bandits who were arrested while
doing military exercises in Vikindu Forest, a few days after the bandits
killed four police officers at Mbande area in Mbagala.
The Dar es Salaam zonal police boss also
confirmed that in a separate incident, they have arrested six suspects
who confessed to have been involved in breaking houses at various areas
in the city and stealing different household items, including television
sets, radios, laptops and cellular phones.
He also added that they are holding for
interrogation four suspected car thieves suspected of stealing eight
vehicles from various areas in Dar es Salaam, which they sold in the
city and other regions.
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