A serving policeman and others are in custody at Mchinji Police Station after a foiled attempt to ransack a camp belonging to Malawi Revenue Authority’s (MRA) Flexible Anti-Smuggling Team (FAST), the tax collecting body announces in a statement.
MRA has since commended the Mchinji Malawi Police Service (MPS) and communities around Ludzi turn-off for being vigilant and thwarting plans of the mob from destroying the camp.
MRA says the incident occurred on Sunday, February 7. Preliminary investigations have revealed that the mob was ferried to the camp by Zyulio Pondamali, astonishingly, a police officer working at Namitete Police Station.
The statement discloses that Pondamali mobilised the gang to destroy the camp because his minibus, a Nissan Caravan registration number MH 7256, was involved in an accident while conveying smuggled goods.
“The minibus is said to have overturned near Guilleme turn off due to a tyre burst as a result of over speeding. The accident led to the death of the minibus driver.
The Authority says it’s patrol team was not in the area when the accident occurred. Pondamali is under arrest at Mchinji Police Station and more arrests are expected as investigations are ongoing.
This far MRA is encouraging the public to report suspected cases of smuggling, tax evasion and tax fraud as these malpractices deprive Government of tax revenue and leads to collapse of local industries. Toll-Free Lines for reporting such cases include; 847 for Airtel, TNM and ACCESS and 80000847 for MTL.
