Edwin Muronzi, owner of a private cemetery, Restland Memorial Park and three grave diggers have been arrested for illegally exhuming about 380 corpses in the past nine years, dumping them in a dam trench before reselling the used graves to other unsuspecting bereaved families.
Restland Memorial Park is located along Kirkman Road in Harare.
Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) national spokesperson, Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the arrest of the kingpin Muronzi and his employees.
"The ZRP confirms the arrest of Edwin Muronzi, Tinashe Chiguma (32), Moses Gwanya (19) and Kudakwashe Humure (31) in connection with massive violation of approximately 380 graves and corpses at Restland Memorial Park, Rainham, Harare, between 2015 and 2024," said Nyathi.
Three others only identified as Kevy, Shumba and Dread are wanted in connection with the case.
Police say the matter came to light after one of Muronzi's henchmen started having weird encounters ostensibly caused by avenging spirits of the dead.
"On 4 December 2024, police arrested Tinashe Chiguma after he made a report that he had been experiencing visions of dead people requesting to know the whereabouts of their relatives.
"Chiguma implicated his employer, Edwin Muronzi, who employed grave diggers at the cemetery, including the suspects and others who are on the run and paid them between US$15 and US$20 per grave.
"The gravediggers received instructions from Muronzi to dig the graves to pave the way for new graves and subsequent burials," added Nyathi.
In the process, the workmen would come across human skeletal remains and traditional artefacts, which they would pack in empty cement bags before disposing of them in a trench of a dam adjacent to the cemetery.
"They would also dispose of the traditional artefacts buried with the bodies. Muronzi and his team would then resell the graves to new clients to bury their late relatives without suspecting anything after cleaning and rearranging the used graves," said the police spokesman.
A team from ZRP, including the Forensic Science department, is currently tasked with conducting investigations in a bid to identify the graves tempered. This will in turn lead to the identification of violated corpses illegally exhumed and dumped.
