Business Daily Africa
Monday, November 12, 2012
Police in Mombasa believe a gang that has been robbing traders at gunpoint is colluding with bank staff to pick its victims.
Coast Provincial Criminal Investigations officer Ambrose Munyasia said the four-man gang usually trails traders after they make bank withdrawals before robbing them in broad daylight.
“The gang follows the victims to the bank and once they have withdrawn money, it trails and attacks them where they find suitable,” Mr Munyasia said.
He said the department had been given names of members of the gang which were being cross-checked before action is taken. “We have crucial leads to apprehend the gang,” he said.
Nominated MP Sheikh Mohammed Dor’s son was the latest person to be robbed by the gang at Ganjoni estate. The four suspects identified themselves as police officers.
“They were interrogated, handcuffed and bundled into a car. They were later robbed of cash and mobile phones before being abandoned at Tudor area,” said Mr Dor in the company of the victims Dor Mohammed and Abdulhakim Ahmed Seif.
Two weeks ago, a Somali business man lost Sh152,000 in the Bondeni area shortly after withdrawing the cash from a bank along Digo road.
Mr Abdi Bashir said four men who identified themselves as police officers handcuffed him, pushed him into a awaiting car and drove him towards Buxton area.
“They ordered me to surrender the cash if I really valued my life. I obliged and they dumped me by the roadside,” he said.
A third victim claimed to have lost Sh2 million to the gang but was curiously yet to report the incident to the police.