The directorate of criminal investigations DCI on Tuesday obtained orders to detain its three officers for 7 days after they abducted an LPG gas company’s manager and his colleague before robbing the manager of Sh600,000.
The incident happened in Matuu town, Machakos County on Friday night.
Police constables William Mutua, Henry Maitai and Jonathan Sankale all attached to the DCI’s elite Special Service Unit [SSU] will be held at Kileleshwa police station until Monday pending investigations.
According to the DCI, they forced the company’s manager to withdraw money at Kenya Commercial Bank Matuu town’s branch ATM.
They returned him to the Company’s site where they forced employees to call the company’s owner to send them [detectives] money directly to their phones and he obliged.
“Preliminary investigations have established that the [detectives] were together. Moving from Nairobi to Machakos County Baraka Gas Company then back to Nairobi and further, their mobile phones were used during the commission of the offence,” their senior colleague inspector Wilson Koech said in an affidavit filed at Kibera law courts.
The suspects took captive the company’s manager and his driver who were heading to their offices at the onset of their offensive.
Koech said two of the officers who were armed with AK47 rifles entered the company’s vehicle and ordered the driver to drive to the offices while their [detectives’] vehicle – a Subaru Forester followed behind.
“Upon reaching the gate, the security personnel opened the gate whereby the two vehicles entered and immediately the detectives ordered everybody to lie down and took control of the employee’s mobile phones, ”Koech stated in his affidavit.
They took the company’s security manager to the offices where they asked him why the company was selling Lake Gas Company’s cylinders in Baraka Gas Company in violation of regulations.
“The respondents were given a memorandum of understanding between the two companies but went ahead to demand to be given money or be arrested,” Koech said.
The manager did not have the money the detectives had demanded and was forced to call the owner who claimed to have no money but could raise Sh600,000.
The firm’s owner sent the money and the manager was escorted to Kenya Commercial Bank ATM in Matuu town where he withdrew Sh100,000 before his Safaricom line was blocked.
The rogue detectives returned the manager to the company’s premises and ordered him to call the owner and inform him of the blockage of the sim card whereby the owner sent money through their lines – directly.
Upon receiving the cash on their phones, they handed over the employee’s phones and left the company premises.
The company’s security manager reported the matter to Matuu police station vide OB14/1/8/2020 and investigations started.
The three officers were arrested yesterday.
They were supposed to be on patrol in Nairobi on the night of July 31 awaiting further deployment when they proceeded to Machakos on the robbery mission.
Koech had sought the court’s permission to detain the suspects for 10 days but chief magistrate Joyce Gandani allowed him to hold them for seven days only and arraign them before the court on Monday.
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