Four in trouble over diesel theft

With fuel shortages biting and black-market diesel fetching a premium, four people are in trouble over nearly 70 litres allegedly stolen from a mine in Balaka.

Three of the suspects are workers at Kangamkunde Mining Site, while the fourth is a fuel vendor suspected of buying the stolen diesel.

The suspects are security guard Austin Josam, 35, supervisor Benjamin Nkhoma, 57, grader checker Kondwani Nkhoma, 25, and fuel vendor Ephraim Ntogola, 32.

Balaka Police spokesperson Gladson M’bumpha said the suspects were arrested around 1am today during an operation at the mining site in the area of Traditional Authority Chanthunya.

M’bumpha said the arrests followed a tip-off from security guards who suspected that some workers had teamed up with a fuel vendor to steal diesel from the site.

He said detectives caught the suspects during the operation as a dump truck driver was allegedly siphoning diesel into containers before supplying it to the vendor.

However, the driver escaped after sensing danger, leaving the four suspects in police custody.

Police recovered nearly 70 litres of diesel during the operation. The four suspects are expected to appear in court soon.