One of the farmers, Felix Mponda, and community policing Chairperson Benias Phiri told Zodiak on Monday that they suspect foul play because they caught the cattle rustlers around midnight with panga knives in a minibus, but when they went there in the morning, they found that police have released the minibus.

"Last night while on community patrol, we caught six people whom we suspected to be behind the theft of cattle in our area with panga knives in a minibus and they handed them over to Nansadi police unit. We agreed that, the vehicle should not be released for further investigation. But when we went there this morning, we found that police have released the minibus. Now we want the police to explain what has happened," Phiri said.

However, Phiri said there was tension in the afternoon when police were transferring the suspects to Limbe police as communities wanted to vent justice themselves.

Cattle rustlers have reportedly stolen around 400 cattle in the area within a year.

However, Limbe police spokesperson Patrick Mussa asked for more time to find out on the development.