Police have arrested 7 people in Lusaka for stealing 16 animals in Nyimba district of Eastern Province.
Police Public Relations Officer, Rae Hamoonga, says the 7 were arrested after a concerned member of the public in Chongwe district on January 4, 2025, reported suspicious activities involving the sale of a carcass at Soweto Market.
Mr. Hamoonga said that upon receiving the information, officers were promptly dispatched to the scene where they apprehended seven suspects, including the driver of the vehicle, his assistant (lorry boy), and five other individuals who had hired the vehicle from Nyimba District as well as the buyer of the carcass of the stolen animals.
“The carcass was loaded onto a Mitsubishi Canter, registration number CAD 2751, white in colour, and part of it had already been sold to a lady operating a cold room at the market,” said Mr. Hamoonga in a statement issued to RCV News in Lusaka today.
Mr. Hamoonga said that the suspects had stolen 16 animals two days earlier from Nyelele Village of Nyimba District belonging to Astrida Phiri, adding that during the operation, officers recovered one and a half animals that had been butchered and stored in a cold room at Soweto Market.
He named the suspects as Thomas Chungwe (52), Fuckson Lungu (54) , Mekelani Tembo (39), Tyson Phiri (30), Samson Lungu (18), all of Nyimba district, Clever Phiri (52) of Chipata district and Ruth Nguni (64), the receiver of the carcass, of Kanyama Compound in Lusaka.
He said that Nyimba police has been tasked to escort the suspects back to Nyimba district, where they will be formally charged for stock theft and related offenses, saying that all suspects remain in police custody as investigations continue.
Angel Kasabo
