Prison breaker’s body found

THE body of Zimbabwean bank robbery suspect Plan Ndebele, who was alleged to have drowned in the Okavango River following a breakout from Windhoek Central Prison early on Monday, was found yesterday.

The Inspector General of the Namibian Police, Lieutenant General Sebastian Ndeitunga, said late yesterday that Ndebele’s body had been recovered earlier in the day about 10 kilometres east of Divundu in the Kavango Region. The body was found between Bagani, which is near Divundu, and another village in the area, Ndeitunga said.The body had been partly mutilated – it is suspected by crocodiles and fish – by the time it was found, Ndeitunga added.He said Ndebele’s remains were at a mortuary at Andara late yesterday.The Police announced earlier this week that it was suspected that Ndebele (31) had drowned while trying to cross the Okavango River at Bagani with five fellow escapees who had staged a successful jailbreak at Windhoek Central Prison in the early hours of Monday.The other five escapees – farm massacre suspect Gavin Beukes (26), murder and rape suspect Deon Engelbrecht (23), murder suspect Morris Mazila Sibitwani (29), and Zimbabwean bank robbery suspects Mthulishi Sibanda (27) and Nesias Matole (33) – were arrested in the Sisuwe area near Kongola some 200 kilometres east of Bagani on Tuesday afternoon.According to a Police spokesperson, Warrant Officer Kauna Shikwambi, the arrested escapees reported that Ndebele had drowned while trying to cross the river at Bagani.Shikwambi added yesterday that according to the latest information available to the Police, the escapees had tried to cross the river at Bagani in three canoes.The canoe in which Ndebele and another of the escapees were capsized, leading to the drowning.Ndeitunga said the Police would not rest until whoever had assisted the escapees in their escape and flight to the Caprivi Region had been found.He said he had assigned a team of senior investigators, led by a Deputy Commissioner, to conduct the investigation into the escape.The prison officials who were on duty at the time of the escape have already been identified, and it would now have to be determined whose negligence, if anybody’s, had contributed to the escape, he said.Shikwambi said the five escapees are expected to appear in court in Windhoek today.The body was found between Bagani, which is near Divundu, and another village in the area, Ndeitunga said.The body had been partly mutilated – it is suspected by crocodiles and fish – by the time it was found, Ndeitunga added.He said Ndebele’s remains were at a mortuary at Andara late yesterday.The Police announced earlier this week that it was suspected that Ndebele (31) had drowned while trying to cross the Okavango River at Bagani with five fellow escapees who had staged a successful jailbreak at Windhoek Central Prison in the early hours of Monday.The other five escapees – farm massacre suspect Gavin Beukes (26), murder and rape suspect Deon Engelbrecht (23), murder suspect Morris Mazila Sibitwani (29), and Zimbabwean bank robbery suspects Mthulishi Sibanda (27) and Nesias Matole (33) – were arrested in the Sisuwe area near Kongola some 200 kilometres east of Bagani on Tuesday afternoon.According to a Police spokesperson, Warrant Officer Kauna Shikwambi, the arrested escapees reported that Ndebele had drowned while trying to cross the river at Bagani.Shikwambi added yesterday that according to the latest information available to the Police, the escapees had tried to cross the river at Bagani in three canoes.The canoe in which Ndebele and another of the escapees were capsized, leading to the drowning.Ndeitunga said the Police would not rest until whoever had assisted the escapees in their escape and flight to the Caprivi Region had been found.He said he had assigned a team of senior investigators, led by a Deputy Commissioner, to conduct the investigation into the escape.The prison officials who were on duty at the time of the escape have already been identified, and it would now have to be determined whose negligence, if anybody’s, had contributed to the escape, he said.Shikwambi said the five escapees are expected to appear in court in Windhoek today.