A section of private investigators has raised an alarm following the emergence of a new type of robbery in the city, where the robbers prey bank customers who have withdrawn lots of money.
The gangsters popularly referred to as Mahu operate in parking lots and work in groups of threes, a team of two men and a woman, all smartly dressed.
According to Steve Odero, a private investigator, the group also use top of the art vehicles to blind their targets and appear to be working in collaboration with bank tellers.
Odero says that the teams which are spread across the city appear to be receiving a tip from bank tellers, after which they trail the victim and break into their car immediately they leave.
“From our investigation, these gangs have zoned the city into spheres of interest to avoid conflict and possible gangland wars. They have formed groups which operate in Utawala, Kasarani, Thika Road, Mombasa Road, Ngong Road and Karen,” he was quoted by the Standard.
Armed with a screwdriver modified into a T-shaped tool, one breaks into the victim's car without causing alarm as the remaining man and woman, pretending to be in a deep conversation, shield him from view.
One of their victims is David Otieno. He allegedly lost Sh150,000 after withdrawing the cash from a bank at Industrial Area.
“I parked near the entrance. I had no reason to fear because there were two Administration Police officers at the parking lot. I took less than five minutes in the building but when I came back, I got the shock of my life," Otieno is quoted by the Standard.
He claimed that the teller at the bank had excused himself for five minutes to take a call, a time he suspects he tipped the group which trailed him and struck after he packed his car outside Bishop House in Capitol Hill.
“The driver’s door had been tampered with and when I checked inside, I was horrified to find my cash missing. The APs were not very helpful. When I went to Capitol Hill Police Station, the police never took my statement. They appeared too busy and I left frustrated,” claims Otieno who later found out that a friend of his had lost Sh400,000 in January in a very similar way.
The private investigator says that the entire process takes less than three minutes, after which the group switches the registration number of their vehicle and leave.