Some of the items recovered from the suspects by police in Yatta, Machakos County on April 30, 2025.
government stores in Yatta, Machakos county.
The group was arrested following intelligence information
from members of the public issued on Tuesday.
Yatta Subcounty Criminal Investigations Officer Samuel Onyango
said the suspects were arrested in Matuu town at a time when crime
incidents had sored in the area.
Onyango said there were many complaints on crime incidents
where suspects don attire resembling police uniform before robbing members of the
public in Matuu town and its environs.
A jungle jacket resembling that of
police officers was among items recovered from the suspects.
“There has been increased police uniforms’ theft in this
area. We got information that there were people harassing members of the public
using attire resembling those of police officers. Acting on the tip-off, we
laid an ambush through heightened patrols and arrested the seven suspects,”
Onyango told reporters on Wednesday.
Among the items recovered were the jungle jacket, craw bar
used for break-ins and three knives.
Onyango said the suspects have been locked up at Matuu police
station undergoing interrogation as they continue with their investigations.
They
will be arraigned in Kithimani Law Courts and be charged with relevant charges
in line with the law.
The incident happened barely a week after a businessman
reportedly lost Sh900, 000 to gangsters in Athi River, Machakos county on April
25.
According to the victim, he lost the money after he withdrew
it from a local bank in Machakos town on the fateful day.
He claimed the stolen money was part of Sh1.5 million he
intended to use in his business at Kitengela town, Kajiado county.
The victim reportedly packed the cash in two separate
envelopes of Sh900, 000 and Sh600, 000, placed them inside his car and drove to
a hotel located along the Nairobi – Mombasa highway at Kyumbi area within Athi
River subcounty where the car was broken into and the Sh900, 000 envelope
stolen.
The money was reportedly stolen after he parked the car at
the hotel and went in for a meeting.
He reported the matter to Kyumbi police station where the
matter is pending under investigations.