A notorious gang of six thugs armed with pistols and knives abducted six Zimbabwean travellers, including the driver, a South African, and robbed them of goods worth more than R17 000 along the Bulawayo-Beit Bridge Road, police have said.

The Matabeleland South province police spokesperson, Insp Tafanana Dzirutwe, said the incident occurred on New Year’s Eve at around 20:00 near the Gwanda area. The victims were travelling in a Gauteng-registered Nissan Sentra to Johannesburg.

“The robbers were moving around in a red Mazda 323, which had no number plates, and they had been following their victims destined for Beit Bridge, en route to South Africa from Bulawayo, and stopped them at the 25km peg near Gwanda.

“One of the suspects then got out of the car wielding a pistol and fired some warning shots into the ground. The other five suspects, who were also armed, ordered the driver to move out of the vehicle. Two of the suspects got into the car and later ordered him (the driver) to drive backwards while the other four suspects were following behind in their Mazda 323 vehicle,” Insp Dzirutwe said.

The seven victims, including two male adults aged between 31 and 32, two female adults and three female juveniles, had been offered a lift by the South Africa driver of the Nissan Sentra.

“The suspects later ordered the driver to stop the vehicle at a bushy area where two of the suspects then pushed the driver and one female passenger out of the car and tied them to a tree.

“They then  drove away with the five remaining victims at high speed towards Beit Bridge, only to stop after a while to rob the  victims of their bags containing clothes and other valuables ,valued at R17 000,” Insp Dzirutwe said.

The two victims who were tied to a tree managed to free themselves and made a report to a nearby police station.

A follow-up was made by the police, leading to the recovery of the vehicle, together with the other five victims, near Gwanda.

However, the suspects had already left the scene and they are still at large.

“We are now investigating as the suspects are on the run. As police we are also appealing to community members to report to us and supply any information which might lead to the arrest of the six suspects. As usual we also urge travelers and motorists to be on the lookout for armed robbers along our major highways,” said the police spokesperson.