Teen among suspects in Nairobi Southern Bypass attacks

Langata police officers display some of the recovered mobile phones after a crackdown following the thuggery along southern bypass, Nairobi. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

A Form Two student is among three suspects in police custody on suspicion of being a member of a group linked to mobile phone theft.

At least 102 assorted mobile phones believed to have been stolen within the city were recovered from the house of one of the suspects, who were seized in Kibera during a police operation on Friday night.

Lang'ata police boss Benjamin Mwanthi yesterday displayed to the media the recovered mobile phones.

Mwanthi said the 16-year-old was arrested on Friday night after a cellphone stolen from a motorist along the Southern Bypass in Langata was traced to him.

Mwanthi said the student led the police to a second suspect in Kibera from whom he claimed to have bought the Samsung mobile phone.

The second suspect led Lang'ata DCI officers to a house in Kibera where a third suspect, also believed to be a member of the gang, was arrested and the phones recovered.

The police chief said the suspects would be arraigned in court on Monday to answer to, among other charges, robbery with violence and possession of stolen goods.

The police chief said one of the mobile phones that led police to the suspects was stolen from a female motorist who was attacked by three armed criminals while driving along the Southern By-pass.

The three were armed with crude weapons and guns, although police are yet to recover any gun from the arrested suspects.

DCI boss George Kinoti on May 31 said a special team of DCI officers had been deployed to patrol parts of Lang'ata and Karen, where motorists had complained of rampant attacks.

On the same night, DCI officers arrested three suspects who were armed with machetes and recovered a motorbike. Yesterday, Mwanthi said police had intensified patrols in the area.