A fire which gutted the Guruve Rural District Council planning office on Thursday last week has raised suspicion after remnants of explosives were found at the scene.

Remnants of explosives found at the scene of a fire that razed Guruve Rural District Council’s planning office have raised suspicion of a cover up.

According to the Zimbabwe Republic Police, the CID forensic unit attended the scene where two used power fuse cable remnants from the rear of the Planning Office block were recovered.

Mashonaland Central Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Honourable Christopher Magomo visited the scene and expressed concern at the potential setbacks to development.

“We have encountered a challenge that has shocked us, the office were all the records in Guruve were kept were destroyed be they housing projects, plans etc, but the police are looking closely into this matter to ensure these malcontents are brought to book, if we continue to have such behaviour we will not get anywhere regards development,” he said.

All the records pertaining to the sale, usage and ownership of stands were kept in the planning office, according to Guruve Rural District Council Chairperson Alderman Fadson Mandaza.

“We thought perhaps it was electricity, the planning office was burnt and it was really razed down, so the police are looking into this, we really hope the people who did this are caught,” he said.

The local authority is concerned planning will be affected as two desktop computers and a vital laptop were destroyed in the fire, in a development that will compromise housing administration in the district.