Police in Lilongwe have arrested a 20-year-old man, suspected leader of a street kids gang, suspected of stealing from people on the Lilongwe Bridge.

The police believe that the suspect, Shadreck Chimpeni, also robbed a student from the University of Malawi, snatching a phone worth nearly K700,000 while threatening him with a knife.

Lilongwe police spokesperson Hastings Chigalu stated that Chimpeni had been on the run for a month, but police, with help from the community, apprehended him yesterday at a location where he was hiding.

Chimpeni is reportedly from the village of Kampepuza in Ntcheu.