The mob killing of seven men in Nsanje who were found with human bones was sparked by the presence of a habitual cattle rustler whom communities suspected was planning another raid in the area, The Daily Times can reveal.
It has emerged that one of those killed in the March 1 incident this year, Mohammed Osman, stirred the community’s wrath following suspicion that the bags he carried together with his colleagues contained ropes used in cattle rustling.
While Southern Region Police Spokesperson James Kadadzera says police recovered one bag containing human bones at the scene, our investigation around Tengani Trading Centre, where the seven were apprehended, has found that another bag containing cash went missing at the hands of a Criminal Investigation Officer.
Though the area remains tense following fears of imminent arrests-prominent people we spoke to, on condition of anonymity-confirmed that Osman’s presence attracted the attention of the people intent on dealing with his life for good following his link to a number of cattle rustling incidents in the area.
Osman had just been released from a five year jail sentence for rustling ten heads of cattle in Chikwawa after being in custody for almost a month.
This followed a High Court review of his sentence.
“When people saw the group that had almost 11 people in total, with him in it, they thought they were on an errand to steal cattle considering the bags they carried,” said the source.
This prompted bicycle operators from the area to report the matter to Tengani Police Unit.
Hell broke loose when the communities made a move on the mob justice victims demanding to see what was in the bags.
“A CID officer [name withheld] who was deployed to monitor the situation called in community policing forum members led by Chairperson George Theka.
“It was when the bags were confiscated that we learnt that one of the bags contained bones of an albino instead of the strings everyone suspected. It was at this point when the uproar started,” said the source.
Another source alleged that the officer carried the bag with the bones and another with money and disappeared.
“On his return to the scene he had one bag only. He joined the rest of the police team from Nsanje that carried the bodies to Nsanje District Hospital mortuary,” the source said.
The officer has since been transferred from the area.
While confirming that the bones were of human beings, Kadadzera said police were yet to establish its source.
“An autopsy verified that they were indeed old human bones but we are yet to establish the source,” said Kadadzera.
However, our investigations show that the bones were sourced from within the district.
Another source we spoke to at Nsanje Boma said the bones were actually exhumed from an old grave.
The source indicated the bones which he insisted were of an albino were sourced from old graves at Marka, a border area with Mozambique.
The source indicated that the bones are sold for rituals.
Theka corroborated our findings about a bag containing money that was confiscated from the suspects.
“When we arrived at the scene, we found one of the police officers carrying two if not three bags belonging to the victims and that a tear gas canister was also confiscated from the officer by the angry community which had the intention to snatch away the bags,” indicated Theka.
Asked on the whereabouts of the bag of money, Kadadzera said that the matter was being treated as one of the focus areas by detectives who are currently on the ground.
“When such matters arise there are always speculations but the truth will be known when we complete our investigations,” said Kadadzera.
He also described the officer’s transfer as normal in the police service.
“Officers are transferred oftentimes in the police service. This transfer is just one of those and not because he handled the mob killings,” said Kadadzera.
Leave a Reply