A notorious 20-year-old armed robber from the Beit Bridge area was shot in the left thigh last week, while trying to attack a police officer with a machete.

The police officer was part of a team of detectives on border patrol along the Limpopo River. The suspect, Alfred Makaya, and his two accomplices, Vioska Kapuru and Kudakwashe Haruzi, were arrested while trying to attack police detectives who were attending a scene in which the trio had robbed two suspected border jumpers along the Limpopo River. The victims intended to cross into South Africa illegally.

The three suspects were hauled before the courts on Friday on armed robbery charges. They pleaded not guilty to the charges when they appeared before the magistrate. The case was postponed to 11 June and the accused were remanded in custody.

Makaya is now recuperating under police guard at the Beit Bridge District Hospital.

The prosecutor, Mr Reason Mutimba, said that on 23 May, at around 18:00, the complainants went to the Limpopo River, intending to cross into South Africa illegally. The victims were then spotted by the three accused who form part of a group with five others, who are still at large. The group, which was armed with machetes, knives and a pistol, confronted the two victims and demanded money amid threats to kill them. One of the suspects produced a pistol and fired a single shot in the air to scare the complainants.

They searched the victims and robbed them of R720 before they fled into the bush. The victims reported the matter to the police, who then accompanied the complainants to the scene.

The court heard that while the police were at the scene, Makaya, Kapuru and Haruzi spotted the policemen, who were in plain clothes. They approached the detectives, threatening them with machetes and demanding money, prompting the detectives to retreat, since they were not armed.

However, the detectives later went back to the scene, armed with pistols and reinforcements from the police's dog section, the court heard. They set a trap for the suspects and, upon realising that they had been trapped, Makaya tried to attack one of the police officers with a machete. The officer opened fire and shot him in the left thigh, leading to his arrest.

Kapuru and Haruzi managed to flee and they were arrested two days later.