’Mantoetse Maama
The police are yet to make any arrests regarding the theft of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs from Paki Health Centre of Mazenod two weeks ago.
According to Superintendent ’Mapuleng Setsomi of Mazenod Police Station, the “large quantity” of ARVs was stolen from the clinic on the night of 5 August.
“The Paki manager came to report that she received a call from the man guarding the facility, at around 2 am, that there had been a break-in at the centre. However, the woman said only went to the centre in the morning since she was too scared to attend the scene at that time of the night. She reported the case to the police at 7 am, and explained that different types of ARVs had been stolen during the break-in,” Superintendent Setsomi said.
“The manager said she initially believed the suspect went into the pharmacy where the ARVs were being kept, through the window, which she thought had been smashed. But it later emerged the window had not been broken but just removed so that the suspect could go inside without making too much noise and alerting the guard on duty.”
Superintendent Setsomi said the police had arrested the guard but released him two days later after realising he had not been involved in the theft.
“The guard was arrested on 7 August and after being interviewed and searched, the police found out he was not involved in the theft and he was released. We had suspected that he could have been involved because he never screamed for help when he saw the criminal, leaving the centre, as he claimed.
“He told police that he had heard some weird sounds coming from the back of the building while he was still in his guardroom, in the same building. And when he went to check, he had seen one man he could not recognise, leaving the centre through the back gate. He never screamed for help so that villagers could help him and that raised our suspicion, leading to his arrest.”
Superintendent Setsomi said investigations into the crime continue.
