TSHIMBUPFE – While the police were still searching for the hijackers who seized the car of Mr Aifheli Gabara at Nkuzana settlements a fortnight ago, Gabara’s own investigations led him to recover his vehicle. It was dumped in the street at Ha-Nkuzana village on Friday.

Gabara was driving along the De Hoop to Nkuzana road when unknown hijackers pushed a herd of cattle into the road. As he reduced speed, a man wearing a balaclava opened the door of his Toyota Corolla, pointed a gun at him and threw him out. Four more others emerged from the bushes and jumped into his car.

Last week, the story was published on the cover page of the Makhado edition, and he received numerous calls informing him that there was a vehicle similar to his dumped in the street at Nkuzana village. On arrival at the settlement, Gabara found his car with one punctured tyre and three old tyres in place of his three new tyres. He said that the petrol tank was also empty. The JVC digital car stereo and speakers, battery, number plates, a pump, license disk and an exhaust had been removed.

Though they left the vehicle’s key, they fled away with his driver’s license and three keys of his workplace.

Pieces of his torn identity document were thrown inside the vehicle. “Every day, when I knocked off from work, I used to go and search for my car around Nkuzana-Majosi and other neighbouring villages, but once the story was published in Mirror, more evidence intensified my investigation, leading me to recover my car,” he said.

Gabara thanked Mirror and its readers in particular for playing a vital role in recovering his car.