Mashurugwi member shot dead

Staff Reporter
An illegal miner shot dead a member of the infamous machete-wielding gang popularly known as Mashurugwi following an altercation over a disused gold mine in Odzi.
The disastrous incident took place on Friday last week at disused Odzi Mine 2, located close to 40km from Mutare city.
Police details who attended the unfortunate disturbance had to fire gun shots to disperse the marauding crowd which was boisterous following the cold blood attack on their colleagues.
 Manicaland assistant police spokesperson Luxon Chananda confirmed that police responded to the case of the fatal shooting of an unknown suspect by one Amisi Zvaida, who is currently in custody.
Chananda said the deceased was in the company of armed gangsters when he was shot on Friday around 1am, for allegedly robbing the accused Zvaida.
Incidents leading to the shooting pronounces that the accused was in his vehicle in the company of Peter Majongwe when the gangsters pounced, breaking a window before assaulting the accused with machetes, forcing him to hand over his wallet with an undisclosed amount.
While attacking the two, it is alleged that Zvaida managed to pull out a fire arm before shooting the now deceased three times in the chest.
Other versions of the same story have it that the incident was triggered by blood thirsty Mashurugwi who invaded the area with intention of taking over the disused shafts, leading to clashes with local artisanal miners.
In previous incidents, the daring gang had also been reported to be seizing gold ore from other illegal miners, which lead to a bloody confrontation with a group of over 50 artisanal miners.
One illegal minor who spoke to this reporter on condition of anonymity narrated how the grabbing of gold ore by the Mashurugwi started the brawl.
“The incident happened during the wee hours on Thursday evening, after MaShurugwi came to invade the Odzi 2 Mine in Odzi, they grabbed the gold ore from other illegal miners, then a fight broke, almost 50 illegal miners exchanged blows while some used machetes.
“One of the gang members was struck to death, while the two who were attacked are in critical condition at Mutare General Hospital.
“It’s so sad that the body of the deceased was lying lifeless at the scene, police came late and they had to fire gunshots to disperse some illegal miners. Owners of the mine are no longer there after the ministry of mines suspended the mine due to various issue but illegal miners have been working at the mine. I hope the government is going to do something about it because we cannot be living in fear of the MaShurugwi, they have to deal with them,” said the source.