Police officers in Meru town have arrested the key suspects of a syndicate that has been involved in mugging and snatching of mobile phones from residents, while masquerading as boda boda riders.
Addressing journalists from his office, Imenti North sub-county police commander Alexander Makau Musau said the arrest of the five suspects is a great step in containing the crime within the municipality.
“We have been having a lot of problems especially when it comes to snatching and mugging within Meru municipality but it is like we are going in the right direction in putting this to an end,” said Musau.
He said his security team had been working day and night to end the trend and their efforts have started bearing fruits in the arrest of the key suspects noting they should be able to help investigators arrest their accomplices.
“We are also confirming that we are still carrying out operations to establish where the phones are usually taken after they are stolen and where they are being flushed to do away with any security features installed by their owners,” he said.
Musau urged the members of the public who have lost their phones to visit Meru police station to identify them.
“The security team that has been carrying out operations has recovered several mobile phones from the suspects and members of the public are urged to come and identify them,” he said.
He noted that cases were currently going down and attributed it to the establishment of a police patrol base in Gakoromone market, one of the hotspots of mugging and mobile phone snatching.
The sub-county Director of Criminal Investigation Mr Jamlick Kinoti Kithinji said other areas where the crime had escalated include Gitimbine and Makutano.
“We are going on with investigations to net other members of the syndicate and we are sure we will succeed in this,” said Mr Kithinji who also sent a warning to those who were still carrying out the criminal activity.
He added, “we have also realised that those behind these crimes are very young boys and this is the reason we are appealing to parents to take the responsibility of guiding and monitoring their children to ensure they don’t engage in such criminal activities.”
