A five-member gang that has terrorised taxi operators leaving them devastated and with no means of livelihood, has finally been brought to book. The vicious gang that operates between Githurai, Ruiru and Kirigiti in Kiambu targets Little Cab drivers.
So organized are the gang members, that one of them poses like the usual cab passenger but once inside the cab, he squeezes the driver’s neck from the back seat and commandeers the car to a secluded area where his accomplices join him. The driver is then robbed off his valuables after being assaulted and his vehicle vandalized.
In one such instance, on February 10th, one of the thugs using a fake identity requested to be taken to Kirigiti from Githurai Kimbo, to allegedly pick his ailing mother who needed urgent medical attention. The unsuspecting cab driver then set off for the journey but on reaching Kirigiti where they were supposed to pick an ailing woman, a male adult emerged & entered the vehicle instead. The vehicle was then comandeered to Sasisni coffee bushes where three more thugs emerged. They vandalised the vehicle making away with the headlights & tail lights, side mirrors, mirror switches, car battery and the spare wheel.
No sooner had detectives completed their investigations on this incident, than the gang carjacked two other cab drivers in a similar fashion, robbing them off their valuables before vandalising their vehicles & abandoning them in Mwihoko, Githurai in the dead of the night.
However, on Monday following intelligence leads, Githurai and Ruiru based detectives apprehended the criminals comprising of Peter Njoroge Kirika, John Muchoki Gatuhu, John Kimani Nganga, Peter Mwangi Murima and Benson Itimu Kariuki. Three of the suspects are ex-convicts for various capital offenses including robbery with violence and murder.
The miscreants are well organized, complete with a specialized mechanic who vandalizes a vehicle within minutes of a carjacking and a customer relations expert, who lures unsuspecting taxi drivers to their trap. A vehicle used by the gang, assorted allen keys, screw drivers and sacks for carrying vandalised motor vehicle parts were also recovered.
Also recovered were original identity cards belonging to victims of crime, used to register SIM cards and lure unsuspecting cab drives & a mobile phone for making taxi requests. They were arraigned in court in Ruiru yesterday & detectives granted 10 days to complete their investigations.
Should you have any information that may assist us establishing where the stolen parts are sold, #FichuakwaDCI, 0800 722 203.
Story by DCI on Facebook
