CELEBRITY Copperbelt Province organised criminal gangs specialised in stealing copper ore from mines and copper cables from Zesco were on Friday evening put to shame and jail in Eastern Province.
The criminals who are praised in most songs by Copperbelt artists and enjoy a semi-god status met a no-nonsense Chipata cop when they tried to extend their criminal enterprise to Eastern Province.
The Chipata cop who was guarding a Zesco Msekera Substaion along Lusaka Road in Chipata District turned down a bribe from jerabos equivalent to his Officer- In-Charge’s two years salary plus risk allowance and remained loyal to the Eastern Province ‘muzungu Anikonde’ philosophy.
The witty Chipata cop obtained a down payment of K50,000 from the Jerabos but handed it over to his bosses and then allowed the jerabos into the Zesco sub-station he was guarding.
As the happy Jerabos were picking up the loot, police mobilised.
In commando style, the cops crawled like crocodiles from their hiding in the nearby bushes until they had surrounded the scene of crime and sealed all possible escape routes.
At the shout of a command by their platoon leader, the cops sprung from their hiding with AK 47 assault rifles drawn and startled the Jerabos into submissive lying on the ground with their hands raised in surrender.
Like white hybrid ‘loan’ chickens, the police picked up the Jerabos and spirited them at high speed to the holding cells before they could martial an escape.
However, not to be outdone, 2 of the Jerabos who were stationed at a look out post managed to escape and police have launched a manhunt.
ln a statement yesterday, Police spokesperson Esther Mwaata Katongo confirmed the incident and named those arrested as Aaron Safalanga aged 30 of Nkana East in Kitwe and Choma Kapembwa aged 41 and Febian Mwamba Mulenga of Chimwemwe Township.
“Police officers layed an ambush and on 19th March, 2021 at around 17:30 hours managed to arrest three suspects…,” stated Katongo.
Katongo did not reveal the identity of the cop for his safety.
©Kalemba March 21, 2021
