LUSAKA – Police in Lusaka have shot dead two suspected armed robbers and arrested three others following a series of violent crimes that recently rocked the province, including the murders of three Chinese nationals. Lusaka Province Police Commanding Officer, Lemekani Chirwa, disclosed that the suspects were killed during exchanges of fire with officers. He stated that authorities would have preferred the suspects to face trial.
“Police and the criminals exchanged fire; the criminals were the first ones to attack the officers, and the police retaliated. We would have loved that they went through the court process, but they succumbed to their injuries,” Mr. Chirwa said.
He described confronting armed criminals as a “do or die” situation. “Fortunately, none of our officers was injured. They were quite alert, and those who were on the wrong side paid the consequences for a life of crime,” he added during a media briefing where recovered firearms, stolen vehicles, and other exhibits were paraded.
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Chirwa said Lusaka had in recent weeks experienced serious violent crimes, including aggravated robberies, murders, theft of large sums of money, rape cases, and motor vehicle thefts, prompting an intensification of police operations. “In the past month, we recorded two tragic incidents in which three Chinese nationals lost their lives. These incidents had the potential to create fear and insecurity in our communities if left unaddressed,” he said.
The first victim was identified as Yu Bin, a 50-year-old Chinese national of House Number 30, Milima Road in the Woodlands area, who was murdered on the morning of November 24. The second incident occurred on the evening of November 3, when a Chinese couple was murdered. Following the murders, police constituted a special task force comprising officers from the Anti-Robbery Squad (C5), the Criminal Investigations Department, the Motor Vehicle Theft Unit, and other specialised units.
In the Yu Bin case, Mr. Chirwa said police tracked suspects operating on a motorbike. During a recovery operation, the suspects attempted to escape and violently charged at officers.
“They were fatally wounded after confronting police and later died while being taken to the hospital,” he said. Police recovered a firearm used in the crime—a state firearm stolen from the victim—and the motorbike used by the suspects. One accomplice in this case remains at large.
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