In an incident that reads more like a movie script, four Zimbabwean armed robbers gave chase to a South African truck, overtook it, smashed its windscreen and robbed the driver of goods worth more than R26 000, including cash, police have said.

The truck, which was being driven by a Zimbabwean, was destined for the Democratic Republic of Congo, carrying bags of mealie-meal and various grocery items.

Local police spokesperson Inspector Patrick Chademana said the incident happened on Friday at around 20:00 along the Beit Bridge-Bulawayo Road. The driver of the truck, Mr Douglas Mutambanesango, was on his way to the DRC when the incident happened.

“The truck was overtaken by a bakkie and, almost at the same time, his windscreen was smashed. The bakkie then parked in front of the heavy truck, together with a Mazda 323, blocking the South African truck’s way. Four men disembarked, one of them armed with a pistol,” he said.

The four suspects threatened the trucker and forced him to lie down under a mattress and covered his face with a cloth.

Insp Chademana said the robbers took away 40 of the 25kg bags of mealie-meal, groceries worth R10 000 and cash amounting to US$1 257 and R3 359

“They also stole 500 litres of diesel from the truck and drove away at high speed, leaving the driver stranded,” he said.

The matter was reported to the police and investigations are underway. No arrests have been made so far.

“We have launched a manhunt for the suspects and we are also appealing to community members to help us with any information which may lead to the arrest of these notorious crimi-nals,” he said.

Of late, there has been an upsurge in the number of armed robberies along Zimbabwe’s major highways and in most cases motorists are the targeted victims who continue to fall prey to the armed robbery syndicates.