A suspected thief lost an arm in Zomba following a dispute over inequitable sharing of proceeds of a stolen BlackBerry.

He was left for dead when his accomplice hacked him mercilessly after disagreeing on the share each was supposed to get.

The incident happened on January 2 at a drinking joint at Njonjo in Chinamwali Township. However, the Police indicated that the matter was not reported to them because both the victim and the suspect were already on a wanted list.

"Our investigations revealed that the victim and the suspect were in a similar operation but they misunderstood each over the money they realised after the sale of the BlackBerry they stole," said a Zomba-based detective.

He identified the victim, who sustained big cuts all over his

body apart from losing his arm, as 37-year-old Adam Maonga who hails from Njonja village in the district. He is currently admitted to Zomba Central Hospital.

The Police detective also identified the suspect as Rodrick Mtima who is currently on the run.

"When we interviewed Maonga on his hospital bed he identified the suspect as Rodrick Mtima who has since bolted to his home district Ntcheu. Meanwhile, the Police are still looking for him," he said.

According to the detective, when the suspected bandits stole the smart-phone, they disagreed on how to share the proceeds.

"We heard that when the two shared the money, they went their separate ways but later on Mtima was dissatisfied with his share, hence he mounted a search for his friend Maonga in order to destroy him.

"Upon finding him, he chopped off his arm before cutting his cruciate (knee) ligaments and beat him up severely in the back," said the detective.

The victim was taken to the hospital almost dead with his chopped arm in a plastic bag and the doctors could not do anything to save the arm, according to the Police.