BY REX MPHISA TWO Beitbridge policemen sustained injuries after they were allegedly assaulted by the recently deployed army commandos. Detective Sergeant Albert Gonye and Detective Constable Kurai Marongere of the Criminal Investigations Department were tracking suspects believed to be stealing from haulage trucks when they were attacked and detained by a group of soldiers. The officer commanding Beitbridge Police District, Chief Superintendent Tichaona Nyongo, however, denied that such an incident occurred. But NewsDay is in possession of a letter written by the two detectives’ lawyers, which demanded to know the reasons for the pair’s assault and detention. Lawyer Jabulani Mzinyathi of Garikai and Company law firm, in a letter copied to Nyongo district area prosecutor, and the officer in charge of Beitbridge police, demanded to know why the two police officers were detained without charge. Gonye and Marongere were allegedly held for 13 hours at Beitbridge Police Station without charge. Mzinyathi said Gonye sustained injuries when he was pushed against some objects. He said the commandos, led by an army major and a captain, assaulted and disarmed the cops before deflating the tyres of their vehicles. It is alleged that the two policemen were freed after Gonye demanded that he need to be treated for his injuries. “Their arrest and subsequent detention was unlawful because there was no charge brought against them,” Mzinyathi said in the letter.
