Police officer, guard arrested over Sh4 million robbery at Mountain Mall

Mountain Mall along Thika Road

NAIROBI: A policeman and a private security guard have been arrested after they were robbed of Sh4 million that was on transit from a supermarket in Nairobi’s Roasters area.

The money was the day’s collection from Naivas Supermarket at the Mountain Mall along Thika Road.

The two alongside four others had gone to pick the money on Saturday at about 9pm when two gunmen confronted them at gunpoint and grabbed the cash that was in a box.

According to Nairobi police boss Japheth Koome, the officers and guards from Security Group Africa (SGA) had been handed over the money from the supermarket for delivery to a bank when the robbery happened.

Witnesses said two gunmen were involved in the robbery. They shot in the air once as they grabbed the box and escaped through the rear door.

“This caused panic at the mall with some shoppers running out mistaking it for an attack. Police arrived and calmed down the situation,” said a witness.

Koome said the officer in custody claimed his gun jammed when he tried to fire at the escaping gang.

“They are assisting us with investigations into the robbery. The other crew were waiting in the car,” said Koome.

The arrests were made after a team of detectives arrived at the scene and reviewed a CCTV footage that captured moments before and after the incident.

Those who saw the footage say the gunmen were captured confronting the SGA guard with the cash and ordering him to lie down after he handed the cashbox to them.

Meanwhile, several passengers were injured in a carjacking incident along Thika Road.

A bus belonging to Kenya Mpya was ferrying passengers towards Githurai when eight of them turned out to be thugs.

They commandeered the bus to Juja where they robbed the passengers and crew of cash and other valuables before abandoning them in a dark alley.

The incident happened on Saturday night at Allsops area where the bus was dropping a passenger. Police are hunting down the suspects who escaped on foot with the loot.