Thugs ransack Bilila Police Unit

Two thugs on Tuesday night defied all odds and invaded Bilila Police Unit, hacking a police officer in the process.

Bilila Police Unit falls under Ntcheu Police Station.

They also rummaged through the offices and looted case files, leaving the future of those crime cases in jeopardy.

As if this was not enough, they unlocked a cell for female suspects and freed a suspect, but she was so shell shocked that she refused to flee to freedom.

In an interview on Wednesday, the station’s spokesperson Gift Matewere confirmed the incident.

He said the thugs, who were armed with pangas, hacked Police Constable Dibuke Kayange before forcing their way into the premises where they stole case files.

He said at around midnight, the thugs—who have not been identified yet— arrived at the police station under the guise of complainants and knocked at the door.

Unsuspectingly, Constable Kayange—who was on duty that night— opened the door to attend to the knock only to be greeted with flying pangas.

“The thugs descended on him with panga knives, occasioning deep cuts in the process. Fortunately, he managed to escape and cried for help from the house of a station officer-in-charge, which is just close,” Matewere said.

He further said the thugs bolted after stealing a carton containing old case files and unlocking a females’cell which had only one female suspect.

The suspect, however, did not flee from the cell.

Kayange was taken to Ntcheu District Hospital the same night and was admitted due to the deep cuts he sustained on the shoulders.

Asked whether the police officer did not have a gun with which he could have defended himself from the thugs, Matewere said he had one but he might have been taken unawares since he thought the knock was by complainants.

He, however, emphasised that the thugs did not rob the officer of his gun.

No suspect has been arrested so far, but Matewere said investigations were at an advanced stage.

Commenting on the matter, Ntcheu District Health Officer Amber Majidu confirmed that the police officer was admitted at the hospital and was responding to medication.

He could not, however, explain his condition as of yesterday morning.

Crime has escalated in the country, the recent one being the killing of a guard at Cherub Secondary School in Lilongwe on Monday night. A frustrated mob also killed a suspect in Lilongwe while another theft suspect was badly wounded by students at Polytechnic College in Blantyre this week.