Malawi Police foil robbery, ‘shoot-to-kill’ four criminals

Malawi Police have this afternoon shot dead four suspected criminals in the capital city of Lilongwe.

Police killed the criminals who attempted to rob a Puma Filling Station at Kanengo in the city.

National police spokesperson, Rhoda Manjolo confirmed the development which comes five days after some armed robbers killed a police officer and made away with K46 million cash in the same city.

”We managed to recover a greener rifle with three rounds of ammunition,” Manjolo told Nyasa Times.

She said the law-enforcers foiled the robbery following a tip-off but refused to disclose details of how the robbers were cornered and killed.  Manjolo merely said the police had been “waiting for them” and the Police operation was led by  a woman commanding officer .

Nation Publications Limited quoted an eye witness account of it’s debt collector Steve Kapengule who was only about 30 metres away from the scene, on the Mzimba-Lilongwe Road, as he headed back to the city after the TAMA offices by the roadside.

“I heard shooting and I saw people scattering in all directions as I approached the filling station. Most of those people returned to the scene, just as hurriedly as they had left, and they started showering congratulations on the police, when it became clear that the police officers had foiled the robbery.

“Almost everyone could tell that the police had laid in wait for sometime before a vehicle carrying the robbers drove in at the filling station at about 2.30pm. Clearly, the robbers had walked into a trap because the moment they advanced and fired the early shots, the police officers –-most of them in civilian clothes (detectives)—responded; in no time, the robbers were lying dead in a mangled heap,” Kapengule stated.

Kapengule said, according to the paper, that he came away from the incident convinced that if police officers are given tips by members of the public, the law-enforcers could thwart the rising incidents of armed robbery and other insecurity incidents.

Recently, there have been several armed robberies, where millions of Kwacha have been stolen and policemen and some civilians were killed and injured.

This is a third time police have shot dead criminals following a public outcry over a rise in robbery cases across the country.

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