Alarm as Dar criminals drug and steal commuters valuables

What you need to know:

  • The Citizen witnessed one incident last Wednesday when a person, later identified as a pharmacy student at the Hubert Kairuki Memorial University (HKMU), was rushed to the Zakhem Hospital in Temeke District after being “drugged” by unknown criminals inside a commuter bus alias daladala. Speaking with The Citizen, a daladala driver plying between Makumbusho and Mbagala Rangi Tatu, Mr Idd Timbwa, said incidents of drugging and theft are on the rise.

Dar es Salaam. Commuting in Dar es Salaam is seemingly no longer safe following reports of people being drugged and robbed of their belongings. The criminals target mainly passengers with bags believing that they contain money or expensive mobile phones and laptops.

The Citizen witnessed one incident last Wednesday when a person, later identified as a pharmacy student at the Hubert Kairuki Memorial University (HKMU), was rushed to the Zakhem Hospital in Temeke District after being “drugged” by unknown criminals inside a commuter bus alias daladala. Speaking with The Citizen, a daladala driver plying between Makumbusho and Mbagala Rangi Tatu, Mr Idd Timbwa, said incidents of drugging and theft are on the rise.

According to him, he has so far witnessed three incidents of theft where the victims were left unconsciousness inside his bus. “I witnessed a man who boarded our daladala, which was plying the Ubungo-Mbagala Rangi Tatu route, fell unconscious at Ubungo Riverside. His luggage and other valuables were already gone,” he said.

Speaking at the hospital on condition of anonymity, the nurse on duty said such incidents were common at the hospital. “We are used to such incidents now. We receive between five and 10 victims in a week,” she said.

Reached for comment, acting Dar es Salaam Special Zone Commander Liberatus Sabas said such cases were not in police records.