By A Correspondent- In Chitungwiza, the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights rescued five juveniles and eight adult residents, who were detained for about five hours at Town Centre Police Station, where they were charged with committing public violence.

The juveniles and the adult residence were arrested Friday afternoon after law enforcement agents alleged that they were part of a group of people who allegedly attacked police officers who wanted to arrest a bar and restaurant owner for breaching national lockdown regulations.

In their defence, the juveniles, who are represented by Freddy Masarirevu of ZLHR, said they were just picked up by police officers who knocked and conducted a door to door search for all male persons while others said they were arrested while fetching water at a
community borehole.

The juveniles, who were later released following Masarirevu’s intervention are expected to appeared at Chitungwiza Magistrates Court on Saturday 27 February 2021.

On Friday, ZimEye exclusively revealed that police officers ran for dear life after they were attacked in Unit H by mapostori.

Below is the story:

Police officers in Chitungwiza on Friday ran for dear life after they were beaten up by Mapostori in Unit H, Seke.

The police officers who, according to residents, are in the habit of demanding bribes from citizens and small business owners operating during the Lockdown were attacked and they took to their heels.

Said a source who spoke on condition of anonymity:

“They came as usual and they threw teargas inside one of the bars at Unit H shopping centre after they failed to get a bribe. They wanted to arrest one of the man whom they accused of violating lockdown regulations by selling beer through the window.

The man ran away and they followed him “mumusha”, the name given to the area where mapostori reside. This did not go down well with mapostori who feel their area is holy and such acts were a violation of their privacy.

Mapostori came out in their usual numbers and started beating up the police officers who took to their heels. They were attacked left right and centre and they ran like a leopard chasing the wind.

They called for reinforcement and came back with anti riot police officers. These were also attacked by stones and it took a while for them to disperse the angry and agitated crowds that had gathered siding with mapostori.

After realising that they were fighting a losing battle, the anti riot police details went away and came back later targeting individuals from the area. They went around the homes breaking down doors and windows where they suspected that there was someone inside. They arrested people including minors and over 60 people were taken to Town Centre police post accused of assaulting police officers.

Parents whose children had been picked up were also arrested when they followed their minors wanting to inquire why they had been arrested.”

Added one parent:

“They arrested my small boys whom they picked up for no reason but simply because they were rounding up everyone in the area. They did not charge them but said i must pay a fine. I ended up bribing them to release my boys because i did not have the $50 000 fine for each of my four boys.”

Efforts to get a comment from police spokesperson Paul Nyathi was work in progress by the time of writing.

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