A POLICE officer is battling for life after being stabbed five times in a frenzied knife attack by a love rival.
The attacker, believed to be a gold panner in Lower Gweru, had earlier been arrested by the same police officer for disorderly conduct.
Police were called to a business centre near Lower Gweru Mission just after 1.40AM last Sunday after Constable Dormen Moyo was found with multiple stab wounds, including one to the face.
Moyo had earlier arrested the suspect, named only as Lameck, after he threatened to assault the police officer, suspecting him to be having an affair with his girlfriend.
The off-duty officer took the suspect to a nearby police base and returned to the business centre where he continued having drinks with a friend named as Kelvin Chisara, and the woman at the centre of the row, Racheal Nyathi.
Midlands police spokesman Inspector Patrick Chademana said Constable Moyo was shocked to see the suspect enter the bar brandishing a knife.
He first knifed Chisara in the face as other patrons, including Constable Moyo, scampered to safety.
Inspector Chademana added: “Lameck then gave chase and caught up with Constable Moyo who was his main target. He stabbed him several times before disappearing into the dark.
“Constable Moyo sustained a deep cut in the face, a laceration on the right shoulder and a deep cut on the left shoulder.”
The police officer remains in a critical condition at Gweru Provincial Hospital.
Police have since launched a manhunt for the suspect who is thought to have left the area.