Police in Ruiru, Kiambu County, have launched a manhunt for three suspected armed robbers who are accused of causing a car accident in Juja with a stolen car after kidnapping a car dealer and a broker and fleeing on a motorbike.
According to a police report, on December 1, 2023, a car dealer named Kennedy Kimuhu Gitau received a call from a car broker named Brian Karanja informing him that there was a potential buyer based in Juja looking for a vehicle model Prado.
The pair then drove from a showroom on Kiambu Road to Juja to meet with the interested buyer, Robert Sifuna Wekesa.
After becoming acquainted, the three took a drive test towards Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) and then stopped in front of a gated house in Juja, where they all alighted from the car.
Three men on a motorbike are said to have appeared and ordered Gitau and Karanja into the house as the client Wekesa drove the car into the compound.
According to police, while being held hostage inside the house, Gitau and Karanja were ordered to pay Ksh.2.5 million each and even called their loved ones to help raise the money.
Three days later, on December 4, two men and a woman tied up the kidnapped duo, bundled them into the Prado, and drove them to an unknown location.
It was until the vehicle reached Juja Equity Bank, where it collided with another vehicle and sped away.
The driver of the accosted vehicle is said to have pursued the Prado when one of the suspects fired two rounds into the air at Kimbo.
“He followed them to Kahawa Wendani Magunas supermarket along the service lane where the stolen vehicle lost control and hit the road steel guards and stopped,” read the police report in part.
The three armed robbers alighted after the vehicle stalled due to the impact, pretending to take one of them to the hospital.
They then boarded one motorbike, leaving their hostages tied in the Prado, fired two rounds of ammunition into the air and ordered the rider to transport them to Juja.
“He took them to Kahawa Sukari roundabout and abandoned the motorcycle there. The robbers took the said motorcycle and rode towards Ruiru direction,” said the police.
Officers from Kahawa Wendani police station and Ruiru DCI officers went to the scene and recovered two spent cartridges of ammunition outside Magunas supermarket.
In the meantime, the Prado has been towed to the Ruiru Police Station for further investigation.
