The policemen were arrested after a Congolese was violently robbed

A businessman has identified four police officers he claimed hijacked and robbed him of Sh4.2 million.

The officers are at the centre of investigations into a string of robberies in Nairobi, Kajiado and Machakos counties.

They were arrested after violently robbing Djuma Yasin Mumbele a diamond necklace valued at $1,905 (Sh247,459), $3,000 (Sh389,700), 300 euros (Sh45,123) and Sh500 in Kitengela.

Samuel Gathitu, Lincoln Ashioya, Tom Odero Abwoga and Perminus Muiruri Kamau were seized on Wednesday in connection with the incident that left the Congolese nursing neck and back injuries.

Before being arraigned in court the following day, James Mwangi Maina, the proprietor of Eastern Steel Mart and a resident of Nairobi’s Utawala area, identified the officers as the criminals who waylaid him on Tuesday last week, robbing him of the money, which he had just withdrawn from Equity Bank Utawala branch.

The money was intended for payment for an order of steel. According to Mwangi, while driving along Mombasa Road to make the payment at Iron Era Ltd in Syokimau, he was intercepted near Gateway Mall by a gag of four, two of whom were armed with pistols.

The gang was using a Mazda car, red in colour, which had trailed him from Utawala. The criminals in full police uniform purported to arrest the businessman on claims that he was trafficking in drugs before handcuffing him.

He was forced in the Mazda car and his face covered with a hood before being robbed. The criminals later dumped him in Karen where he managed to find his way to Karen Police Station before being referred to Embakasi.

On Wednesday, Mwangi identified the suspects during a parade at the Kitengela Police Station where they being held after allegedly robbing Yasin, a Congolese national who was accosted and injured along the Export Processing Zone road.

In a bid to evade arrest, Gathitu allegedly claimed he is a bodyguard to Kindiki, and at the same time attached to Elwak Police Station in Mandera County.

But Mandera Police Commander Robinson Ndiwa denied Gathitu was the DP’s bodyguard. According to Ndiwa, Gathitu was transferred to Elwak from Kikuyu two weeks ago, and had requested for few days off to re-settle his family left behind in Nairobi.