Detectives are probing a case involving a senior police officer who was robbed of Sh718,000 shortly after withdrawing the cash from a bank in Sondu, Kericho County.
The officer, who holds the rank of inspector and serves with the General Service Unit, was on leave at the time of the robbery on Friday afternoon.
He reported to police at Sondu Police Station that he had withdrawn the money to pay sugarcane farmers. He told police at Sondu Police Station he had withdrawn the cash from a bank in Sondu Town and was taking the same to pay sugarcane farmers.
The inspector is an official with a local cooperative responsible for facilitating payments to farmers supplying sugarcane.
He explained that after leaving the bank, he boarded a motorcycle carrying the cash in a bag, heading towards the Maruna area. “He told police he had left a bank in Sondu and hopped onto a motorcycle with the cash in a bag headed for the Maruna area when he and the rider were attacked.”
The attack came after the officer had a late lunch in town, and authorities suspect the robbers were tracking him from the bank. It is suspected the gang had been trailing him from the bank.
While en route near Samisbay, a salon car blocked their path. On their way at Samisbay, a salon car blocked the rider, and three armed men alighted and grabbed the bag at gunpoint.
At the time, the officer was unarmed. The officer was not armed at that point.
The bag contained personal items alongside the cash. After the robbery, the gang fled towards Kisumu, with the motorcycle rider giving chase but failing to catch them. The bag also had other personal effects. The gang sped off towards Kisumu as the rider chased it in vain.
Subsequently, the robbers discarded two mobile phones that had been inside the stolen bag.
