Three suspected members of a robbery gang have been arrested in Kisumu County following a targeted operation by detectives, with police recovering assorted items believed to have been stolen during violent robberies, including a toy pistol resembling a firearm.
The operation was conducted on Saturday by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau (CRIB) in the Nyanza Region working alongside officers from DCI Kisumu East.
Police said the operation led to the arrest of 31-year-old Reagan Otieno Silvester at Kisumu Rotary College.
He is among three suspects who were allegedly captured on CCTV breaking into a victim’s home while armed with pangas, metal bars and what appeared to be a pistol.
Investigators said Otieno was seen in the CCTV footage carrying away a 55-inch Hisense television stolen during the robbery.
During interrogation, the suspect allegedly led detectives to Rabour area in Kadibo Sub-County, where his alleged accomplice, Mohamed Ramadan, alias Moha, was believed to be hiding.
Although Ramadan escaped by jumping over a perimeter wall during the police operation, detectives arrested two other suspects identified as Christopher Onyango, 31, and Fidel Omondi, 28.
Searches conducted in the suspects’ hideouts led to the recovery of assorted household items suspected to have been stolen, burglary tools believed to have been used to break into the victim’s house, and several rolls of cannabis.
Detectives also searched a house rented by the fugitive suspect in Nyang’ande area, where they recovered a toy pump pistol hidden under a bed and several SIM cards.
A subsequent search at Otieno’s rented house yielded more items suspected to have been stolen. Among the exhibits recovered was an identification card belonging to a victim of a previous robbery with violence in which valuables, including a 55-inch television set, were stolen.
The three suspects were taken to Kasagam Police Station, where they remain in custody pending further investigations. All recovered items were secured as exhibits after crime scene officers processed the scenes.
Police said mobile phones, SIM cards and other recovered items will undergo forensic analysis to help identify their owners and establish links to other robbery cases.
The hunt for the escaped suspect and any other accomplices is ongoing.
Police have mounted operations in Kisumu to address rising cases of robberies.
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