DCI Questioned After Two Suspects Who Robbed Sacco In Murang'a Shot Dead

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has been put on the spot by Kenyans on social media following its report on two armed robbers shot dead hours after staging a robbery at a Sacco's branch in Murang'a County.

According to the report, the robbers were killed by a multi-agency police team on Sunday, March 12 in a fierce shootout in the morning in Kigumo, and two assault rifles were recovered thereafter.

The two, who were part of a gang of six thieves who raided the sacco's branch on Saturday, March 11, were cornered at their hideout in Kigumo which the DCI stated was crawling with wild animals.

A collage of weapons recovered from two suspected armed robbers who engaged officers in a shootout in Murang'a county on March 12, 2023. /DCI

"Sounds of fierce gunfire rat-a-tat-tat-tat! punctuated by screams from hyenas whose territory had just been invaded woooo! wooooo! reverberated across Kinyona Forest at around 9 am, as the officers engaged the thugs who shot at them during the 9 am operation.

"Yesterday, the thugs had staged a robbery at a Sacco in Mununga branch, within Kigumo town, where they made away with an unknown amount of money after disarming a police officer and taking possession of his G3 rifle," stated the agency in part.

The marauding gang of six that had been on police radar had on February 25, 2023, wrestled an AK-47 rifle loaded with 14 rounds of ammunition from a police officer on patrol within the Muthithi area, which they used in the robbery incident. 

In a joint operation by officers from Murang’a county backed up by an elite team from the Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau, the officers combed the Kinyona forest before coming across the two who challenged them to a duel.

"What followed was a volley of fierce gunfire that brought the entire forest ecosystem to a standstill, as the officers returned fire with remarkable precision killing the two on the spot. 

"The two police rifles were recovered following the onslaught and a bag containing Ksh1.13 million stolen from the Sacco was recovered," added the DCI.

Bodies belonging to the fallen thugs were taken to Murang'a Level V Hospital mortuary awaiting identification as a manhunt for the rest of the suspects ensued.

However, the report by the DCI was questioned by a Kenyan who tasked the sleuths to explain why they deleted the images of the dead suspects after another one surfaced at the same time.

The image which could not be independently verified by Viral Tea showed two men seated and surrounded by police officers, wearing the same clothes as the ones gunned down, and were spotted alive.

"You deleted this post. So they (suspects) were arrested and tied up then ended up engaging the officers in a shoot-out? Secondly, the unknown amount became Ksh1.3 million after some time?" The tweep inquired.