DCI detectives arrest GSU officer linked to robbery in Kisii

Constable Edgar Opollo was detained Kisii Central Police Station after his arrest on February 3, 2024. [Eric Abuga, Standard]

Police in Kisii have arrested a General Service Unit officer in connection with two robbery incidents.

Members of the public allegedly cornered the rogue officer during a robbery on February 3, 2024.

"We presented him before the court on miscellaneous application, and the court gave us ten days to carry out further investigations," said Kisii county Commander Charles Kasses.

A report shared by the Director of Criminal Investigations indicates that police Constable Edgar Opollo was saved from a mob by Kisii Central police who were on patrol.

The suspect had been cornered by Kisii University students, who disarmed him.

"On inquiry, the officers established that the suspect had stolen a smartphone from a Kisii University student, and on frisking, him they found the phone. He was arrested and escorted to the station," Kasses said.

For more than a month, DCI detectives in the area had been pursuing an armed gang of three who on January 2, 2024, allegedly robbed Sh40,000 from PEPS Mini Supermarket, which is situated at Corner Mbaya near Kisii University.

The incident which was captured on CCTV cameras shows three robbers who had partly covered their faces, two of whom were armed, one with an AK47 and the other with a pistol at the supermarket.

The armed suspect was wearing police uniform.

Detectives are pursuing the second armed suspect.

Following Opollo's arrest, an identification parade was conducted where the supermarket owner successfully identified him as one of the robbers who accosted him.

"He continues recuperating under police guard at a hospital in Kisii, pending interrogation and arraignment for robbery with violence," said the police boss.

Kisii has only one GSU camp, and officers are attached to guard the State Lodge located along the Kisii Town-Milimani-Nyanchwa access road.

Kisii and Nyamira counties have been recording increased robbery and burglary cases.

Three months ago, police gunned down three people riding on a motorbike and armed with two AK 47 riffles along Kisii-Migori road.

The three were said to be part of a gang of six that had robbed a supermarket in Suneka Town, Kisii South.

The other members of the gang remain at large.