Three-man gang continues to terrorise Naivasha
Posing as bank customers, the gang has been able to camouflage their criminal ways, as police in the past four incidents playing catch up.
What you need to know:
- Posing as bank customers, they have been able to camouflage their criminal ways, as police in the past four incidents playing catch up.
- All those who have been robbed are accosted moments after withdrawing large sums from the bank.
- The gangsters, riding a motorbike, appear to be well-versed in the movements of their targets and strike with precision, leaving their victims in a daze.
It is a hard-core gang of three, terrorising clients after they waylay them outside banks in Naivasha town, and they are ready to shoot at the slightest provocation.
Posing as bank customers, they have been able to camouflage their criminal ways, as police in the past four incidents playing catch up.
The criminals threaten their targets into submission, pointing a gun at them and at times opening fire.
Two of their victims, including a prison officer and a boda boda man are lucky to be alive.
All those who have been robbed are accosted moments after withdrawing large sums from the bank.
Precision strikes
The gangsters, riding a motorbike, appear to be well-versed in the movements of their targets and strike with precision, leaving their victims in a daze.
A detective, who preferred anonymity, disclosed that the armed men usually follow their victims into banks, pretending to be customers, but keeping a close eye on their target.
"They monitor the ongoing bank transactions, while the accomplices wait outside the financial institution. Once their target steps out, they continue trailing them,” said the officer.
The latest incident occurred more than three weeks ago when they followed a woman who had just withdrawn Sh200,000 from a local bank.
They caught up with her at Kinamba after she alighted from a matatu she had boarded in Naivasha town and, in a scene like from a movie, they robbed the scared victim before opening fire and injuring a prison officer in the vicinity.
One of them uttered: “Huyu ni sansi (this is a police officer) before they shot him,” said a man who witnessed the incident.
Another victim of the gang was a boda boda operator who was hired by a victim to give chase after the gang robbed a woman of Sh150,000 at Karagita.
One of the gang members drew a pistol and shot the boda boda rider before getting back onto the getaway motorcycle and fleeing from the scene.
The gang is also linked to the Sh300,000 robbery of a senior government official who had withdrawn the money to settle claims for officials attending a workshop at a Naivasha hotel.
"They trailed his car up to the hotel, before breaking into the vehicle and stealing the cash,” said a source.
Now, police have established that the gang used a forged identification card (ID) and fake number plates to enter the premises, according to the details captured at the hotel’s main gate.
The same gang is also said to have robbed a prominent Naivasha businesswoman of Sh500,000, moments after she had withdrawn money from the bank.
“They trailed her, blocked the car within Sight and Service Estate, drew a gun and demanded the cash,” said a friend of the victim.
Detectives are now on high alert, trailing the slippery three, who have managed to escape a police dragnet for the past three months.
Naivasha sub-county police commander Samuel Waweru said police have managed to get the identities of the three men, saying they were closing in on them.
“It’s a covert operation and undercover officers have been detailed to track down the thugs,” said the police boss.
“It is only a matter of time before we catch up with them,” added Mr Waweru. He said the two shooting victims were treated and discharged from the hospital.
