THOHOYANDOU – The Police in the Far North has warned the community to be aware of criminals who are robbing people on the N1 highway road from Bandelierkop to Messina.

Capt Ailwei Mushavhanamadi said they had received two reports of people who had been robbed on same road. He said they had been informed that the car used in all the incidents was a Mazda 626, metallic in colour.

Mushavhanamadi said the alleged robbers were targeting unsuspecting hitch-hikers, more especially these going to the Beitbridge border. "These people give lifts to hitch-hikers before they rob them of their belongings and money after driving to a certain sport.

"We appeal to hitch-hikers to stop accepting lifts from people with private transport, as it would expose them to this type of crime. We also advise people to use public transport or else they should only accept a lift from a person they really know," said Mushavhanamadi.

Mushavhanamadi confirmed that it was not the first time that they had received complaints about N1 Highway crime. He said they had a similar problem in 1999, when people were offered a lift and given a cool-drink with drugs, so that they could be raped and robbed when they fell asleep.

The problem stopped after the police established the N1 Highway Patrol, which nabbed the criminals. They confiscated many goods and expensive clothes.