‘ZANU PF youth league member’ involved in shooting at retired army General’s home dies in police cells

HARARE – A suspect in last weekend’s shooting incident at a retired army general’s home died in police holding cells at Harare Central Police Station overnight Wednesday, ZimLive has learnt.

Police sources identified the dead man as Kudakwashe Mupedzazvose, whose Zanu PF Youth League membership card was found at the crime scene in Harare’s Mt Pleasant suburb in the early hours of October 11.

Mupedzazvose was arrested on Wednesday with a gunshot wound to the chest, but police inexplicably locked him up in holdings cells.

He is the second person to die after another man – previously thought to be Mupedzazvose because of the Zanu PF card – was killed at the home of Retired Lieutenant General Engelbert Rugeje in what police said was a gunfight between armed robbers and soldiers guarding Rugeje’s home.

Police said at least six suspects tried to enter Rugeje’s home on Cheshire Road.

Police sources have told ZimLive that, contrary to police claims, there was in fact no exchange of gunfire because the so-called suspects were unarmed.

“In fact, our investigations show that these men were copper thieves who were in the process of stealing ZESA cables because there was a power outage at the time. They were busy ripping power lines at the time,” a police source said.

Mupedzazvose was known to the police after he was previously arrested in 2017 accused of the theft of power cables.

Police spokesman Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said he was in a meeting when his comment was sought on Thursday morning.

-ZimLive