KENYA: Three suspected robbers; two men and one woman met their match in Kirinyaga after their victim-a 54-year-old woman- flipped tables, catching them in the act.
The three reportedly posed as Telco firm Airtel employees before proceeding to mischievously withdraw Ksh70,000 (about UGX2.4 Million) from Beth Mbithe’s mobile wallet.
Faced with the glaring reality of the loss of her hard-earned cash, the woman fought back, creating a scene that attracted a crowd at the Baricho trading centre.
The three suspects reportedly followed the victim home, introduced themselves as Airtel Kenya employees on official duty to issue “new generation sim-cards”
Since it was already drizzling, they were welcome into the home where they proceeded to obtain crucial bio-data before transferring the money.
Ms Mbithe’s son Samuel Munene who was around at the time said he was shocked to see the transaction message pop on his mother’s phone.
Without raising alarm, he locked the unwanted guests inside the house and hailed police officers from the Baricho police station.
The trio appears to have been roughed up by curious neighbours who had been alerted to the matter; one of them had welts on his face and muddied clothes while others had varying degrees of bruising.
The suspects had only returned Ksh.20,000 by the time police officers arrived, whisking them away.
Ndia sub-county Police commander Joseph Mwika confirmed the incident, saying the three; Benson Waigwa Macharia 38, Mercy Mukami,29, and Caroline Wanjiru,20, who are all from Thika are in police custody.
Mr. Mwika asked Kenyans to be vigilant especially when dealing with people who claim to be telco employees asking for crucial information such as Identity Number, Date of Birth and Personal Identification Numbers (PIN).
