POLICE in Nakonde have arrested 23 people in connection with the riot which also left Amigo Bakery and Shop looted.

And the police on Sunday shot and wounded two Tanzanian women during a riot that rocked Nakonde.

Police spokesperson Brenda Muntemba yesterday identified the victims as Bahati Siwale, 19, and Annette Daniel,16, both of Tunduma District in Tanzania.

Muntemba said Siwale sustained an open wound on the right arm and breast while Daniel had both her thighs shattered, adding that both were out of danger.

She explained that police were compelled to use firepower when they failed to contain a riot that started following a rumour that the person behind the suspected ritual murders that have recently rocked the area had been apprehended and taken to the police post.

"Upon hearing the story, the people flocked to the post where they demanded that they administer instant justice to the suspect," Muntemba explained.

"The police did not allow this. The police action angered the mob who accused police officers of shielding the ritual murderers and started throwing missiles at the post and adjoining buildings.

"The situation was, however, brought under control though only for a while because the crowd regrouped and became even more violent. The police is reported to have used tear gas in an effort to quell the disturbance but to no avail until they used firepower, which resulted into the wounding of the two Tanzanian women."

Meanwhile, Muntemba said police in Chipata have arrested a man who robbed a Luanshya resident of property worth K5,350,000 on Sunday, while two men have been arrested in Livingstone for robbing a resident of a wallet containing K290,000 and damaging his spectacles worth K700,000.

She added that in Kabwe, police were investigating a case of suspected poisoning in which Matimba Bwalya of an unknown age was suspectedly poisoned by unknown people on Sunday.

And in Lusaka, police are looking for two men, armed with an AK47 assault rifle, who robbed a Lusaka resident of a Noremic pistol type with eight rounds of ammunition worth K4 million, a cell phone, Nokia 3310 worth K600,000 and US$101, which was in his wallet.

Muntemba said the incident happened on Saturday evening near Zaffie Club on Great North Road.

She added that police have intensified investigations to track down unknown people who stole a white Toyota Venture worth K35 million, which was stolen whilst parked at the University of Zambia (UNZA) Ridgeway Campus on Saturday evening.

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