CBZ bank loses nearly a quarter million US dollars to robbers

Some daring robbers outpowered security guards who were facilitating a cash in transit and made away with thousands of US dollars. The armed robbers first carjacked a Mercedes Benz in Selbourne Park and used the vehicle for the robbery. Police in Bulawayo are investigating a cash-in-transit robbery after a Fawcett truck was targeted while delivering cash to the Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe (CBZ) early on Monday.

Police sources confirmed the incident and that the gang intercepted the Fawcett van in a sanitary lane as it was about to deliver an undisclosed amount of cash to the bank on Jason Moyo and 8th Avenue.“The Fawcett guards were outnumbered and outgunned,” a police source said. The robbers drove away in the Fawcett van which was later found abandoned in Ilanda suburb.

The robbery was done movie style and most people were left shocked by the daring nature of thieves in the area. Some have claimed the robbers might have been working in cahoots with the security guards only to play victim after the incident. Robberies have become common in most parts of the country and thieves are targeting places where huge stashes of cash are kept.

In Ilanda, the gang hijacked a pick-up truck after cleaning the Fawcett van of the cash. National police spokesman Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said investigators were still at the scene, and police would issue a statement later.In 2013, a Fawcett van delivering US$400,000 to Eastern Highlands Plantations in Manicaland was robbed after four armed men rammed into it with a big truck.

There is relief that no one was seriously hurt in the process. Such heists often end up with some people losing their lives after getting in the firing line.