The police have revealed that investigations into the death of veteran banker and business executive Douglas “Doug” Munatsi are still ongoing. This comes after pathologists who conducted a preliminary post-mortem on Munatsi’s body could not establish the specific cause of death.
The Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) chief executive officer died following a fire at his Northfields apartment in Harare’s Avenues area. The fire has been described as suspicious and is being investigated by the police. Some witnesses have reported they heard an explosion-like noise from Munatsi’s apartment just before the fire.
There are also indications that the business executive’s body shows signs of torture. This comes after medical examiners reportedly discovered that Munatsi’s fingernails were pulled out. This has led to suspicion that he may have been murdered with the fire being set to hide the evidence.
The authorities are seeking to establish whether Munatsi may have been drugged or poisoned before he died in the mysterious fire by conducting a toxicology examination.
The police have also located and interviewed a woman only identified as Coletta NPFK. She is the last person known to have visited Munatsi on the fateful night.
Giving an update on the Doug Munatsi investigation, national police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi told online publication The NewsHawks.
“Yes, the Zimbabwe Republic Police has located Colleta and interviewed her. At the moment, the police is still conducting an investigation and will release full details once the investigations are complete.
“The police will advise the public accordingly once the toxicology examination results are out. The Zimbabwe Republic Police is still conducting investigations and will certainly update the public and media once the inquiries are complete.”
Police sources who spoke to the publication said remains of the deceased were found in a sitting position just beside the bathtub in the main bedroom with some burns on the hands and legs. He was wearing a red T-shirt and a black pair of shorts which were not burnt.
Commenting on the lack of a specific cause of death, the police sources said,
“According to what has been received, there is no specific cause of death given at this time. It is not common, but it happens. Samples were collected for a toxicology examination to assess whether there were no drugs, alcohol or poison involved.”
Investigations are currently underway to establish the cause of the fire.-iharare
