DCI pounce on notorious gang that has been terrorising cab drivers

Members of a five-member gang that has been terrorising cab drivers around Githurai, Ruiru and Kirigiti have been arrested.

According to the DCI, one of the gang members often poses as a client then later squeezes the driver’s neck from behind.

“So organized are the gang members, that one of them poses like the usual cab passenger but once inside the cab, he squeezes the driver’s neck from the back seat and commandeers the car to a secluded area where his accomplices join him.

“The driver is then robbed off his valuables after being assaulted and his vehicle vandalized,” read a tweet by DCI.

Last week, one of the thugs requested to be taken to Kirigiti from Githurai Kimbo to allegedly pick his ailing mother.

The cab driver accepted the request but on reaching Kirigiti a male adult entered the vehicle and commandeered it to Sasini coffee bushes where three more thugs emerged.

They vandalised the vehicle and made away with the headlights, tail lights, side mirrors, mirror switches, car battery and the spare wheel.

According to the DCI, the gang later carjacked two other cab drivers in separate incidents and abandoned them in Mwihoko.

The suspects; Peter Njoroge Kirika, John Muchoki Gatuhu, John Kimani Nganga, Peter Mwangi Murima and Benson Itimu Kariuki were arrested on Monday following intelligence leads.

Three of them are ex-convicts and investigations revealed that they come complete with a specialized mechanic who vandalizes vehicles within minutes and a person who lures cab drivers.

A vehicle used by the gang, assorted keys, screw drivers and sacks for carrying vandalised motor vehicle parts were also recovered.

Also recovered were original identity cards belonging to victims of crime used to register SIM cards and lure unsuspecting cab drives and a mobile phone for making taxi requests.