Nuusita Ashipala
ONGWEDIVA – Police in the Oshana Region have warned the public against withdrawing large sums of money after two women were robbed of N$15 000 and N$31 600 in separate incidents last week.
The incidents happened between midday and 15H00 on Tuesday last week in Oshakati and just outside that town.
It is alleged one of the women was robbed of her bag – containing N$15 000 – by a fellow passenger in a taxi as they travelled together from Oshakati en route to Oshikuku.
Acting spokesperson of the police in Oshana Inspector Petrus Iimbili said the suspect grabbed the bag from the woman and got into a getaway car which followed the taxi.
“Immediately after leaving Oshakati, the unknown suspect, who was seated [next] to the victim grabbed her bag and ran,” related Iimbili.
The woman, with the aid of the taxi driver, chased the getaway car into Uupundi location in Oshakati where the suspect and the driver abandoned the getaway car and took off on foot.
The car has been impounded by the police.
In the other incident, a 68-year-old woman lost N$31 600 when an unknown suspect allegedly grabbed her handbag from behind.
It is alleged that the unknown suspect got into a silver polo with no registration number plates and fled off after grabbing the bag from the woman.
The woman was walking in Oneshila location in Oshakati. No one has been arrested in both cases, but police investigations continue.
Meanwhile, police in Oshana are also investigating an incident in which two people were struck by a bullet at a bar in Ongwediva last week.
A security guard on duty at the bar fired a shot to the ground after an argument erupted between him and a reveller, but it was unclear whether any of the two people struck by the bullet had the confrontation with the guard.
A 37-year-old suspect was apprehended.