Rakops fugitive captured,three at large

Barati Mathambo
Correspondent | Wednesday May 29, 2013 00:00

The four prisoners escaped from police custody when they were being transported from Letlhakane Magistrate's Court to Maun Prison.Three of the quartet are from Rakops, while the other one hails from Maun.  Two are aged 24, the others 28 and 30 respectively.One is facing armed robbery charges and has previously been involved in a similar offence.  The other three are facing charges of shop break-in.

Sub-Inspector Abram Pono of Rakops police station said the 24-year-old, who hails from Rakops was caught on Monday at 7pm at Mosanga ward in the village as he was alighting from a combi from Maun.Pono said he was caught when passengers in the combi recognised him and notified the police.'The fugitive used to patch car wheel tubes in Rakops.  He is said to have hitch-hiked from Motopi because the combi owners knew him through his old job, but they knew nothing about him running from the law,' he said.

Pono said the captured man said after escaping from the vehicle that was transporting them, they slept in the forest in Makalamabedi.'The following day they were able to find donkeys which they rode until they reached Xhana Settlement where they slept.  He further told us that they then travelled to Chanoga where they also spent the night,' he said.Furthermore Pono said from Chanoga, they then hitched a ride to Samedupi Settlement where they parted ways.

'The other three went to Maun where the police had been notified about them.Though the hunt for the three was launched, we have not been able to find them.  As for the one we caught, he said after he parted with the other three he had to herd cattle on his way back to Rakops to earn food and a space to bivouac, ' he said.Pono made an impassioned plea to the community of Maun and surrounding villages to help the police capture the remaining three fugitives.'Whoever sees the three should inform the police as soon as possible and should be cautious when they do so,' he warned.