Police in Lilongwe have recovered a Toyota Hilux, registration number BLK 9933, which was stolen on Thursday morning at Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) offices in Area 47 in the city.
The vehicle, which belongs to a Lilongwe Catholic priest, was impounded by MRA officials in December 2016 and was being kept within the perimeter fence of the tax collecting body waiting for the owner to pay a fine.
According to Central Region Police Deputy Public Relations Officer, Alfred Chimthere, on Thursday unknown criminals pretending to be the owners of the vehicle drove out the twin cab from the MRA premises.
“Upon being asked by the security guards, they [suspects] lied that the matter [involving MRA and the owner of the vehicle] was sorted out. They then sped off. After some time, it was discovered that the vehicle had been stolen. The matter was reported to the police who were involved in a chase with the criminals,” he said.
The police have since arrested 37-year-old Fulundiwe Banda and 42-year-old Simon Kamphata while a Mozambican national they were with bolted.
The suspects will appear before Lilongwe Magistrate’s Court to answer charges of theft and conspiracy to commit a felony contrary to sections 278 and 404 of the Penal Code respectively.
The police are also keeping in possession a vehicle which was used to commit the offence, a Mazda Premacy, registration number NU 7101 belonging to one of the accused, Kamphata.
Both suspects hail from Lilongwe.
Leave a Reply