Police in Lusaka have arrested about six fellow officers who allegedly robbed robbers in Lusaka West on Monday, and went away with over K250, 000 which the robbers were trying to share.

The accused police officers, all from Makeni Police have been detained at Lusaka Central Police for the past three days, while others were released after interrogations.

News Diggers managed to interview the police officers who robbed the robbers and they narrated that the bickering that ensued during the sharing of the stolen money caused the whole ordeal to be exposed.

“The incident happened around 02:00 hours on Monday after a robbery was reported from Lusaka West. The robbers broke into a house of some Chinese and went away with over K250,000, a bag of dollars and some Chinese money. So it seems at some point those robbers parked the car to share the money. Us we were in the area patrolling. So when we saw the suspicious car parked, we surrounded it. After seeing the police vehicle, three of the robbers escaped, but one who was driving was apprehended,” narrated the officers.

“But what happened is that the robbers who escaped left the bag of money in the car with two pistols. So we were many of us, maybe like eight or so. Our friends, after discovering that the bag was full of money, they took it and started sharing. It so happened that when sharing the money, some officers got more, others got less and the police reserves who were present got the least. So they started fighting among themselves. At the police station, we only surrendered the pistols, but the money was not mentioned.”

The source narrated that after the apprehended robber was put in police custody, he confessed to the other police officers at the station how they conducted the robbery and disclosed that the patrol police officers shared the money.

“When the police officers were asked, they denied ever getting the money, but we were there, we saw exactly what happened. Some officers just became greedy, forgetting that we had apprehended one of the robbers who was going to tell the story,” narrated the police officers.

And a police source handling the case narrated that part of the money was recovered from the ‘police robbers’.

“When the police reserves who were part of that night operation were rounded up and interrogated, they admitted that they all took the money and shared. That’s how they went to search their houses and the money was recovered. But the money that was taken by the full time officers has not yet been recovered,” narrated the source.

“The arrested police officers include Inspector Mwanamwinde who was the shift officer, Sergeant Mali, who was the driver of the patrol car, Constable Madakwa, Constable Mulenga and another Constable Mulenga, there was another Constable identified as Bridget and a reserve officer called Emilio, who is said to have been released.”

Meanwhile, when called for a comment, Lusaka province police commissioner Nelson Phiri cut the line upon hearing this reporter’s query.