Court directs police to hold suspected robbers for five days

What you need to know:

  • The officer told Senior Resident Magistrate Phillip Mutua that the suspects were being driven in a Nissan Wingroad, which lost control and landed in a ditch following the shootout.
  • During the appearance, one suspect Mr Gachu, said he was assaulted by police officers during the arrest and complained of head injuries and internal bleeding.

A Nyeri court has allowed police to detain three suspected armed robbers for five days until investigations are complete.

In a sworn affidavit, Constable Maurice Osoro from Directorate of Criminal Investigations said the three are believed to be behind a series of robberies in Nyeri town and its environs.

Martin Kamunya, Erick Gachu and Stephen Muchiri were arrested following an exchange of fire with officers in Kamakwa on Monday morning.

The officer told Senior Resident Magistrate Phillip Mutua that the suspects were being driven in a Nissan Wingroad, which lost control and landed in a ditch following the shootout.

The occupants escaped and the vehicle was towed to Nyeri Central Police Station. Police recovered crude weapons like pangas in the car.

Mr Osoro added that later the first accused, Mr Kamunya, went to the police station saying he was the owner of the motor vehicle and accompanied by Mr Gachu.

The third accused person, Mr Muchiri, was arrested following information that he had been involved in a various robberies in the region.

“No crime has been established against them and no evidence collected so far to prefer robbery with violence charges. We are beating the 24-hour period provided to arraign suspects in court,” said Mr Osoro.

“We want to conduct an identification parade and we also need time to analyse their phone calls data and messages. We will approach network providers for such information,” he further told the court.

During the appearance, one suspect Mr Gachu, said he was assaulted by police officers during the arrest and complained of head injuries and internal bleeding.

He said blood was oozing from his ears and was in severe pains.

The case was set to be mentioned on March 27 while the court ordered that Mr Gachu be taken to hospital for treatment.

Nyeri Central OCPD Muide Kioko had confirmed that the suspects were planning to rob a private hospital when police received a tipoff and ambushed them.