Man found dead in vehicle, police open probe

Police have launched a murder investigation after the body of a man identified as Alan Wittika was found in the backseat of his motor vehicle in Area 15 residential estate in Lilongwe on Wednesday.

Lingadzi Police Station spokesperson Salome Zgambo said police suspect that Wittika, who was working as Coca-Cola Beverages Company (Malawi) sales manager, was murdered between 6am and 7am and his body moved to the back seat of his vehicle, an Isuzu supercab pickup.

She said police have initiated murder investigations because the deceased was found with cuts in the head and his body was covered with the vehicle’s floor mats.

Said Zgambo: “We suspect that this happened between 6 and 7 in the morning because that is when passers-by spotted the car at the scene. The people were curious to know why the car was there for a long time without anything happening.

“Upon checking, it is when they found the deceased lying in the back seat of the car. We believe it is a murder case because the man has been found with cuts in his head.”

In a separate interview, Coca-Cola Beverages Company public affairs and community sustainability director Godwin Ng’oma said the company was shocked and saddened with Wittika’s death.

He said: “We actually don’t have official information of what has happened. Now, everything is being handled by the police.

“But in the morning, we were just surprised that our colleague was not with us in the meeting and later around 11am, that’s when we heard that his car had been found in Area 15, with him dead.”

Ng’oma extended condolences to the family for Wikita’s death.

Information gathered by police shows that the victim was 37- years-old and came from Liwonde Village, Traditional Authority Kanduku in Mwanza District.