Police in Thika town are investigating a gang of three men who allegedly carjacked a PSV Matatu on its way to Nairobi from Kilimambogo robbing the passengers all their valuables and escaping with huge sums of money on Wednesday.
It is reported that the robbers were armed with guns and they threatened to shoot if the passengers and the driver did not comply with their demands.
According to Samuel Kamau, the matatu conductor, the three gunmen boarded the vehicle in Kilimambogo and were each carrying a back pack and strategically sat in the vehicle.
The tout said that one of the gunmen sat with the driver in front while the other in the back seat as the third one sat close to him near the door.
On reaching on Thika-Garrisa road, Kamau said that the one close to him pointed a gun at him demanding him to surrender the day’s collection.
He said that when the driver tried to pull over, the gunman at the front seat ordered him not to stop and again threatened to shoot him thus he had no option but to comply.
Kamau said he was forced to surrender Sh20,000 which he had collected the whole day just to spare his life.
Stephen Kambi one of the passengers told the press that the gunmen ordered them to surrender all the valuables and they each complied.
He said that all the passengers surrendered mobile phones, money and expensive watches while the tout surrendered all the money he had, which they put in their backpacks.
The tout said that on reaching Thika town, they diverted the vehicle to Thika section 2 where they were dumped as the gunmen ran into thickets and disappeared.
He said that they immediately called the police, from Thika police station, who availed themselves but they could not manage to make any arrests.
Thika west Deputy OCPD Mary Kiarie confirmed the incident and assured that he had launched a crackdown to apprehend those involved.
She warned motorists to always frisk their passengers before boarding a vehicle to avoid repetition of the incident.