BY SILAS NKALA THE two Beitbridge police officers, who allegedly dismembered the body of a theft suspect and dumped it in a trench late last year, were not asked to plead to the murder charge when they appeared before magistrate Toindepi Zhou on Saturday. The State was granted a warrant to further detain the two officers, one stationed at Zezane Police Station in Beitbridge and the other at Tuli, to today to allow for further investigations  and recovery of deceased Blessing Nare’s missing body parts. In an affidavit filed at the courts, officer-in-charge Beitbridge Criminal Investigations Department, Inspector Christopher Mundembe indicated that on January 7 this year at 8pm, the two police officers were arrested for murder as defined in section 47 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:23, which occurred in Swereki area in Beitbridge on December 29, 2020. “The accused persons, who are police officers, acted in connivance and assaulted Nare, who was in their custody as a suspect at Swereki Police Base with sticks all over the body, resulting in his death. “I am requesting a warrant for further detention of the above-mentioned accused up to January 11 (today) to recover the axe which was used to chop the body of the deceased before they dumped it, to recover some parts of the deceased, and to carry out indications with the accused persons,” Mundembe submitted. Allegations are that on December 29 last year, the pair brutally assaulted Nare with sticks following his arrest on theft allegations. Realising that they had seriously injured him, they released him. It is alleged that Nare left the base limping, collapsed and died a short distance from the scene of torture. The two police officers got wind that their victim had died along the road and allegedly went to the scene where they dragged the body from the road into a bush. They allegedly tried to set it on fire  and failed. They later cut it into pieces and shoved it into a trench. Nare’s remains were discovered on January 7 and positively identified by his relatives. A report was made to the police, leading to the arrest of the two police officers. lFollow Silas on Twitter @silasnkala