By Terrence Mawawa, Masvingo| Thousands of dollars from school fee funds have disappeared in the hands of the Hillside Government School headmaster enflaming the entire Masvingo community into a rage.
 
The development yesterday saw hoardes of ZRP cops siding with the alleged perpetrator and head-teacher (name supplied) as riot police stormed in, assaulting both protester and journalist.
 
Overzealous police details yesterday pounced on suspecting journalists here and confiscated cameras before detaining the scribes for several hours.
 
The journalists were covering a parents demonstration at Hillside Government School when the police suddenly pounced on the reporters and grabbed their cameras forcing them to delete the photographs they were taking. The parents were demonstrating against the squandering of funds by the school administration .
 
Three local journalists Golden Maunganidze,TellZimbabwe editor Passmore Kuzipa and Mirror reporter Sydney Mubaiwa had their cameras confiscated and they were detained for several hours at Chikato Police station where they were later released.
 
“We were covering a parents demonstration at the government school when police details surrounded us and took our cameras. They did not even ask for press cards and our bid to explain ourselves fell on deaf ears. We were subjected to emotional torture and intimidation. We were detained at Chikato Police Station for several hours,” said one of the journalists.
 
The police also reportedly ordered the journalists not to report anything on both the demonstration and the arrest.
 
The police in Zimbabwe have hogged the limelight for the wrong reasons and local journalists have roundly condemned the barbaric behaviour of the police officers who tormented the innocent scribes.