Thupeyo Muleya Beitbridge Bureau
Police here have arrested a 41-year-old suspected poacher after he shot and killed a game ranger at Nottingham Estate, 40km south west of Beitbridge town.
Bino Ndou is accused of shooting the ranger once on the right side of the chest on Sunday morning.
Ndou had been cornered by three game rangers while checking on his snares in the estate.
Matabeleland South police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Nkosilathi Sibanda said the man has been charged with murder.
He said the game ranger’s next of kin were still to be informed, adding that his body had been taken to Beitbridge District Hospital Mortuary pending a post-mortem.
“Initial investigations reveal that Ndou set his snares in the area between Friday and Saturday,” he said.
“These were then discovered by the now deceased, who was on patrol on Saturday with two other workmates.
“They then laid an ambush and the suspect arrived at around 10am the following day.
“The rangers ordered him to surrender, but he ran away.”
Asst Insp Sibanda said the rangers then pursued him but he outpaced them and hid behind some shrubs.
He said upon spotting the now deceased, he shot him once on the right side of the chest using a shotgun.
The man, he said, bled profusely and Ndou vanished from the scene, though he was later arrested on the same day by a team of rangers and the police who pursed him.