Police arrest bank robbery suspects

Business came to a standstill on Friday in Kasungu District after angry people wanted to attack shops rub by foreigners following a robbery at Standard Bank Malawi.

The riots followed rumours that one of the suspects was a foreigner.

Robbers on Thursday stole K31 million at Standard Bank Kasungu Branch. During the robbery, a security guard Redson Banda, 60, was killed.

In an interview on Friday, Kasungu Police Station spokesperson Joseph Kachikho said the suspects disabled closed circuit television cameras before robbing the bank.

“The robbers tied the security guard before breaking into the bank. They went away with K31 640 000 and in the process killed Banda,” he said.

Angered by the security guard’s death, the people took matters into their own hands trying to attack foreigners’shops and police officers fired tear gas canisters to calm the situation.

Meanwhile, three suspects are in police custody at Kasungu Police Station in connection with the robbery and Banda’s murder.

Kachikho said two other suspects are at large.

He said at 5am on Friday, a motor vehicle registration BV 826 Honda Freed was involved in an accident in Dowa District and the first to arrive at the scene was a security guard from Dowa District Hospital who found the driver unconscious.

“Later, the first and second suspects arrived at the scene, claiming they were friends with the driver, but the security guard connected their issue with the Kasungu bank robbery and tipped off the police who rushed to the scene and arrested the two,” he said.

Kachikho said the third suspect is a private security guard at the bank.

He said the suspects will appear in court soon to answer robbery and murder charges.