By A Correspondent|A terrified Zimbabwe National Army soldier based at 1.2 Infantry Battalion in Hwange shot himself dead after discovering that his colleagues may have stolen some of his bullets.

The soldier who was deployed for Coronavirus duties in the coal mining town with live rounds is said to have committed suicide by shooting himself with a service gun after discovering he had lost 10 rounds of ammunition.

Nicodimus Ndlovu, originally from Plumtree in Matabeleland South, is said to have sneaked out of a police base where he and others were camped for a Covid-19 operation and shot himself through the mouth last week Wednesday.

Colleagues found his lifeless body after searching for him for hours when he had disappeared from the base after finishing duty at 6am.

A report made to the police stated that Ndlovu was deployed on Wednesday evening and upon completing his shift, he discovered he had lost 10 rounds of ammunition for his gun magazine.

“Nicodimus Ndlovu, a ZNA member based at 1.2 Infantry Battalion in Hwange went for a Covid-19 operation with other army members and police on April at 6pm.

“He finished duty in the morning and discovered that he had lost 10 rounds of ammunition from his AK47 rifle magazine,” read part of the police report.

Ndlovu is further said to have informed his colleagues about the lost ammunition.

He later sneaked out of the base when his colleagues took him to task over how he lost the rounds.

Ndlovu’s body was later found in the bush with a gun wound in his mouth.

Police took his body to Hwange Colliery mortuary before transferring it Sunday to United Bulawayo Hospitals for post-mortem, after which he was driven to his rural home for burial.

Some cases of illegal hunting where poachers use rifles have been linked to some serving and retired members of the security forces, among them rangers, who abuse their service guns to commit crimes.

Some of the cases have appeared in court with serving members among those accused in the cases.