- Kosgei said the gang stole two TV sets, two laptops, a JBL sound bar and four mobile phones.
- The suspect was found in possession of Kosgei's vehicle with fake license plates that DCI verified to be belonging to a lorry.
Image: FILE
DCI in Naivasha have arrested a gang they say has been targeting motorists.
The police said that a police report made on Valentine's Day by Nelly Cherop Kosgei prompted the crackdown on the gang operating in Naivasha.
"At 3 am on Valentine's Day, police at Naivasha Police Station received a distressed female reporter from Mirera estate who had been accosted by a five-man gang at her house and held hostage from 9 pm to 2 am the same night," DCI wrote.
Cherop, the victim, stated that she was in her home with her two children and the housekeeper when five guys carrying crude weapons, four of whom were dressed in jungle attire stormed inside.
She reported that the gang threatened to kill them if they raised the alarm before ransacking her house for valuables.
Kosgei said the gang stole two TV sets, two laptops, a JBL sound bar and four mobile phones.
The gang is said to have then loaded the stolen items into Kosgei's vehicle, a Nissan Dualis, before driving off.
DCI say that after days of pursuing the criminals, detectives moved on to Nakuru North, where they set up an ambush in the Kiamunyeki area, and successfully arrested one of the suspects.
The suspect was found in possession of Kosgei's vehicle with fake license plates that DCI verified to be belonging to a lorry.
He was also found in possession of six sim cards, a pair of jungle green trousers, pliers, 14 steel tyre nuts, aerosol paint spray, a brown folded carton for carrying extra car registration plates and foreign currencies of different denominations including South African rand, Mauritius rupees and Uganda shillings.
After interrogation and profiling, detectives were able to identify his accomplices.
Two other suspects were ambushed while heading to Njoro Town on board a truck.
On searching the truck, police discovered a number plate belonging to an unidentified bus.
"The two suspects were equally interrogated, where the detectives learnt that they were to meet with two other accomplices in Njoro town, where they were to change the truck’s registration plates and escort it across the Kenya - Uganda border," DCI wrote in a post.
A third ambush was laid at a hardware in Njoro town, and two more suspects, aged 32, were arrested.
This brought the total number of suspects apprehended throughout the thorough manhunt to five.
DCI reported that the five suspects were working with a gang operating in Naivasha which was terrorising motorists.
They uncovered earlier reports of robbery from motorists including a 38-year-old driver who had been robbed, sexually molested and left tied up at Punda Milia section on February 23.
Police say that the driver reported being robbed by a six-man gang and they are currently pursuing the sixth suspect in the case.