Drama as man carrying pension money attacked by thugs after leaving bank

Detectives in Kenya on Thursday stopped two suspects riding on a motorbike from stealing Ksh.600,000 from a 62-year-old man.

The elderly man, a pensioner who had served as an agriculture extension officer for the better part of three decades, had just withdrawn the cash from Karatina’s Equity bank to procure construction materials when the incident occurred.

According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the two thugs focused their attention on the elderly man owing to the fact that he was well dressed and carrying a briefcase with a combination lock.

“Mzee Karanja (not real name) strode into the banking hall leaving no doubt in the minds of the eagle eyed ‘nduthi men’ opposite the bank that he had come to town for serious business. Once inside, Mzee Karanja withdrew Ksh.600,000, from his account and divided it into two,” the DCI said in a statement.

“Three bundles of Ksh.100,000 each were neatly arranged in his briefcase before he locked it, using a combination of codes. He then stuffed the remaining half into his pockets before walking out of the banking hall.”

As he exited the banking hall, Mzee Karanja decided to buy ten packets of cigarettes, which he stashed in his briefcase, unaware, that the two were secretly tailing him waiting for an opportunity to pounce.

When the victim least expected it, the two struck; landing blows on the elderly man before snatching his briefcase and speeding off towards Sagana.

“Luckily, two detectives based at DCI Karatina, had just stepped out of a restaurant where they had taken lunch on time to catch a glimpse of the old man landing on the ground and the thugs making their daring escape,” the DCI added.

The sleuths immediately gave chase and were it not for the fact that the getaway motorcycle rammed into a dilapidated vehicle, which coincidentally impeded the route the criminals were escaping on, Mzee Karanja would have been counting his losses.

“The thugs hurriedly left the bike on the road and escaped on foot limping, as they hurled the briefcase at the officers who were breathing down their backs. Our men collected the briefcase, walked back and handed it over to the old man who had been helped on his feet by well-wishers,” said DCI.

The detectives escorted the man to Karatina police station where he reported the incident and confirmed that his cash was still in his briefcase. They would later also escort Mzee back to his home after he filed the incident report.

The owner of the motorcycle involved in the incident would later present himself before police, insisting that he had hired his motorcycle to a rider prior to the incident. He is currently assisting detectives with investigations.