Two arrested for possessing weapons
Police in Mchinji on Wednesday last week arrested a Malawian and Mozambican for allegedly being found in possession of a rocket-propelled grenade.
A rocket-propelled grenade is an offensive anti-tank military weapon system that fires rockets equipped with an explosive warhead.
According to Mchinji Police Station spokesperson Kaitano Lubrino, the suspects, Botomani Kholowa, 34, from Chasa Village Traditional Authority Kalolo in Lilongwe and the Mozambican national, Fackileti Matiya, 25, were arrested at Namizana Border Post by police officers who were patrolling the Dzalanyama Forest Reserve .
Lubrino said the two suspects, who were travelling on a motorcycle, were stopped by the police officers after noticing that they had concealed a suspiciously long item in a plastic bag.
Said Lubrino: “After being searched by the officers, it was discovered that they were carrying the rocket propelled grenade wrapped in a plastic bag.”
Police say during interrogation, the suspects claimed they picked the weapon in a the garden of one of the suspects in Mozambique.
According to Lubrino, the duo was aware that they were carrying a rocket propelled grenade and they confessed that they were looking for a possible market in Malawi.
The suspects are expected to appear before the Mchinji Magistrate’s Court to answer a charge of being found in possession of an offensive weapon. Meanwhile, specialists in the Firearms and Ballistics Department from the National Police Headquarters have examined the weapon and have confirmed that it is a live rocket propelled grenade and will defuse it accordingly.
