By BRIAN HATYOKA –

SOME unknown people have stolen 199 railway pandrol clips in Mazabuka, Southern Province deputy police chief Alfred Nawa has said.

Mr Nawa said the railway clips, whose value was not yet known, were removed and stolen from the main railway line in Mazabuka by unknown people between February 2, 2014 at 18:00 hours and February 3, 2014 around 05:00 hours.

Speaking in an interview yesterday, Mr Nawa said the incident occurred between a place called Lubombo and Mazabuka town.

“The incident was reported to Mazabuka police by Michael Mumba from Zambia Railway Limited (ZRL) police house number 32 in Overspill Township.

“After Mr Mumba reported on behalf of ZRL, the police visited the scene and found that 61 metres of the main railway line was affected,” Mr Nawa said.

He said the police in Mazabuka had since launched investigations into the matter to bring the culprits to book.

“Fortunate enough, no train used the railway line around that time when the infrastructure was removed and stolen otherwise we were going to have a serious derailment.

“ZRL has already moved to the site to ensure the smooth movement of any passing train,” Mr Nawa said.

He appealed to the community to desist from such kind of behaviour because the railway line was there to benefit them and the entire nation.

“The community should know that it will be them to lose when they vandalise the railway infrastructure.

“We, therefore, wish to urge them to look out for people selling railway clips and report them to the police,” Mr Nawa said.