A MAN from Insiza died after he was axed and thrown into a dam by two suspected fish poachers.

Mpumelelo Mpofu, 50, of Plot 123 in Gwatemba, died on Saturday morning following the Friday night attack that occurred after he tried to confiscate the poachers’ fishing nets.

Mpofu’s assailants stripped him naked and used a knife to rip off his clothes before throwing him into Habe Dam that locals say is infested with crocodiles.

He regained consciousness and staggered home, but died hours later.

Villagers said his attackers have since been arrested but Matabeleland South acting police spokesperson sergeant Thabani Mkhwananzi was not immediately available for comment.

Mpofu’s brother, Bekezela, described his sibling’s attackers as cold blooded killers.

He said by throwing him into the crocodile infested dam, the pair was trying to conceal their crime.

“He was hit on the forehead with a sharp object which we believe could have been an axe. They fractured his ribs and right hand. They tore his clothes using a knife before throwing him into the dam,” Bekezela said.

He said his brother’s killers threw him into the dam after assuming that he had died, but he regained consciousness and staggered to his homestead.

Bekezela said Mpumelelo failed to make it home and called for help, about 200 metres from his homestead.

“He moved for about one-and-a-half kilometres towards his homestead but couldn’t make it there. There are signs that he was struggling along the way. About 200M from his homestead, he called for help leading to his family taking him to Gwatemba Clinic. At the clinic he was transferred to Filabusi District Referral Hospital where he died in the early hours of Saturday,” he said.

Shocked villagers visited the murder scene yesterday.

A police Neighbourhood Watch Committee member, Zephaniah Mthamo, said they tracked the suspects to Mberengwa Growth Point and found one of them still wearing his blood stained clothes.

Mthamo said his team assisted the police in arresting the pair.

“They were arrested yesterday. We managed to trace one of the suspects to his home. He’s a local person. His footprints led us directly to his home and we managed to identify some of the clothes he was wearing the night of the incident,” he said. by Nqobile Tshili. Source: chronicle