Kikuyu police on Thursday arrested a man who is suspected to have been conning bodaboda operators by impersonating an enforcement officer from Kiambu County government.
Confirming the incident on Thursday, Kikuyu Sub-County OCPD Mutune Maweu said the man identified as Lincoln Kinuthia, has allegedly been soliciting bribes from bodaboda operators by threatening to arrest them.
Maweu said the officers hid in a nearby kiosk and as a routine, the conman embarked on soliciting bribes from a bodaboda operator and that is when his officers arrested him.
“We set a trap for the man following a tip off from members of the public. Two police officers had to hide in a kiosk near the spot where the said man was demanding for money from a bodaboda operator. The man was given a Sh500 bribe by the operator. However, irate bodaboda operators did not wait for the policemen to handcuff him and started beating him up,” said Maweu.
The OCPD said police were able to rescue the man from the angry bodaboda operators who threatened to lynch him.
“The suspect sustained serious injuries on the head and both legs and officers took him to Kikuyu Hospital for treatment. However, we will arraign him in court once he is discharged from hospital,” said Maweu.
The OCPD commended members of the public for providing police with information but cautioned them against taking the law into their hands.
Kenneth Mwangi, a bodaboda operator in the area, said the man has been allegedly conning bodaboda operators for the last three months.
“The man had been robbing Kiambu County government of revenue by collecting the monthly fee paid by bodaboda operators whom he issued with fake receipts,” said Mwangi.