Police close in on thieves who drilled hole through Equity Bank wall to steal Sh26m

Police say they are following crucial leads into last weekend's robbery at Equity Bank's Kayole branch.

The robbers, who drilled a hole through the bank's wall and broke into the control room and safes, ran off with Sh26 million.

The exact amount of money stolen in the Saturday night robbery had not been revealed until yesterday.

"After reconciliation of the figures the bank says the thieves escaped with at least Sh26 million," said an officer aware of the ongoing probe who asked not to be named.

According to another officer, the robbery was so choreographed, that the gang knew exactly where to drill and access the banking hall.

Three people, including guards who were on duty that night, have been arrested to assist the police with investigation.

Police said they also recovered, mallets, grinder, chisels and a gas cylinder that the unknown number of thieves used to access the control room and safes of the bank to escape with the cash.

Detectives believe the robbers must have spent at least five hours to drill through the bank's rear wall, disable security cameras, deactivate the alarm and break into the control room before burning their way into two safes and escaping with the cash.

The investigators have confirmed there was no power outage in the area to enable the movement into the bank hall undetected.

Although the robbery took place on Saturday night, it was detected almost six hours later.

The security guard posted on the front side of the bank told the police that he did not know what was happening on the rear side.

It is not clear whether bank workers or the burglars turned off the security cameras and alarm.

Police say the alarm provider is among 10 people who have so far been questioned over the incident.

They suspect the gang may have had insider information on how the bank is set up and that they knew their way around the building.

Investigations are ongoing.