POLICE have arrested two men in connection with the murder of a police officer in Sesheke in Western Province who was reported missing before her body was discovered in a shallow grave.

Police public relations officer Esther Katongo said in a statement yesterday that the officer has been identified as Caroline Chembwe, 29. Ms Katongo said police in Sesheke exhumed the body to establish the cause of death.

She said investigations into the matter have revealed that Ms Chembwe was killed by a 23-year-old man identified as Edward Mwanza who had gone to her house to buy a car which the deceased was selling. Ms Katongo said Mwanza had lied that he was in an intimate relationship with Ms Chembwe but investigations by the police have revealed that the two only got to know each other after the late advertised her car for sale.

“When they reached the suspect’s home, the victim received a phone call from another interested buyer who offered to get the vehicle at a better price which made the victim change her mind and this angered Edward Mwanza, who picked a knife and stabbed her,” she said. Ms Katongo said Mwanza allegedly locked Ms Chembwe’s house after he stabbed her and only returned later to dispose of the body with the aid of a friend identified as Dan Njimbu.
She said Mwanza and Njimbu have been charged with murder .

Ms Katongo said Mwanza has also been charged with aggravated robbery. Meanwhile, police have instituted a manhunt for a man of Makeni Villa identified as Fidelis Jipupa to answer to incest charges for allegedly defiling his daughter. Jipupa is alleged to have had carnal knowledge of his daughter on August 21 this year and has since run away.

And police in Lusaka have arrested a 44-year-old man of Kanyama for allegedly defiling his 14-year-old stepdaughter. Ms Katongo said the man is alleged to have defiled the girl on several occasions between January 2016 and August this year.