A police officer has been charged with criminal abuse of duty after releasing a suspect without pressing charges.
The officer in question, Chancellor Nathan Garikayi, had arrested Tatenda Garvin Chigumbura back in February for purchasing a vehicle that was flagged as blacklisted by the Central Vehicle Registry.
However, rather than impounding the vehicle, Garikayi released Chigumbura. It is alleged that he also provided Chigumbura with a set of number plates falsely obtained from the Office of the President and Cabinet in March.
On September 28, when Chigumbura was arrested again, this time on fraud charges related to the number plates, he implicated Garikayi as the one who had supplied him with them.
In a separate count, Garikayi and an accomplice were accused of conspiring to steal registration plates from the Office of the President and Cabinet. They allegedly sold these plates for US$2,000 to an individual who then affixed them to a smuggled Toyota Fortuner.
Garikayi recently appeared before Harare magistrate Marewanazvo Gofa, who granted him bail of US$200. As part of the bail conditions, he is required to report to the CID Police Anti-Corruption Unit once a week.
