A soldier with the elite Presidential Guard Infantry Ballation reportedly fled with a bullet lodged in his rib cage after he was shot by Criminal Investigations Department (CID) officers during an armed robbery shootout.

This comes after he and his co-accused robbed Chitungwiza fuel service station of cash, a firearm, and other valuables.

The soldier, Arnold Matetepa (38), was arrested last week as he sought medical treatment at a health centre in Harare and was brought to court on Saturday facing armed robbery charges.

New Zimbabwe reports that Magistrate Judith Taruvinga remanded him to his hospital bed to August 3.

It is in the State’s case that on June 24 this year, Matetepa and his four accomplices, three of them still at large, robbed Velvet Service Station in Chitungwiza of valuables and US$2 500 cash after assaulting and disarming a security guard.

The same night, the accused and his gang, which included Tendai Mubatapasango, Lovemore Madondo, Jerry Bangu, and Munyaradzi Hodzi, allegedly drove to Mutorashanga on another robbery mission but fell into a police trap on the way.

The suspects allegedly fired at the detectives and sped off after being flagged down, leading to a high-speed chase.

Cornered, the suspects abandoned their getaway car, and fled in different directions, with police firing randomly at them.

Hodzi was arrested after being shot on the leg while Matetepa fled with a bullet lodged in his rib cage.

Matetepa was later arrested after he and the other suspects still at large were implicated by Hodzi.