Matuu Heist Linked To Rogue Ex-Police Officers

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 29- A team of detectives from Nairobi has joined in the hunt for robbers who raided a bank in Matuu, Machakos County and stole an unknown amount of money.

Detectives believe former police officers, among them an ex-General Service Unit (GSU) officer with a past criminal record carried out the daring Tuesday morning  raid on Matuu Equity Bank branch.

The suspects robbed customers of their cash and an unknown amount of money from the bank at gunpoint. Two police officers manning the facility were also disarmed in unclear circumstances.

Preliminary investigations by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) also point an accusing finger at the two officers who were manning the bank, indicating they were  part of the robbery plot and execution.

The investigators say that the manner in which the robbery was committed, the attackers were either rogue police officers or ex-officers. 

One of the suspects has been identified as a former General Service Unit officer who hails from Masinga area but was based in Masinga before being sacked from the service in Mombasa.

Three bodaboda riders have been arrested over the robbery. They are said to have ferried the escaping gang from the scene.

Preliminary investigations have further revealed that the bank manager Michael Muriithi notified police of the incident which occurred at around 9am.

According to a CCTV footage retrieved from the facility and seen by Shahidi News, five robbers were involved in the incident.

Police responded after 20 minutes according to an incident report.

During the gun fight, police constable Dorothy Opili sustained injuries on her hip and left hand while her colleague constable Patrick Omusebe sustained bruises on both his hands. Constable Omusebe was also injured on his private parts.

The robbers stole the officer’s two AK-47 rifles with 30 rounds of ammunition each.

Several customers were also robbed of their money at the banking hall.