Carjackers adopt new tricks

By Boniface Ongeri

The mobile phone revolution has certainly made lives much easier from simple communication to the complex mobile banking.

The country has also seen innovations where phones are used to perform tasks such as cooking, trapping mice and even locking and unlocking doors.

But just like the mobile phone technology can be used for the general good, criminals have become tech savvy and are now exploiting the technology to their advantage.

A recent viral email by a couple who fell victim to these criminals illustrates how dangerous they have become.

Indeed, their case has been reported to the Serious Crimes Unit of the Criminal Investigations department where detectives are still trying to crack the crime.

So far, no one has been arrested even though detectives say they have good leads.

The anonymous email explained how the criminals lured a couple just after they had bought a white Toyota NZE at a car yard along Ngong Road.

"We were pondering on what security gadgets to install in the vehicle to fend off potential thieves when a man came to us and introduced himself as Mwaura.

Enticing offer

"He advised us against installing alarms, instead recommending a tracking device that we would easily track with our own mobile phone," the email said.

Little did the couple know that by installing the tracking gadget, their movement would be monitored and at an opportune time they would be carjacked and robbed.

The opportunity to rob them came a week later when they went to view their land off Thika Road mid last month.

"Mwaura had advised us against visiting well established car tracking companies saying they would charge high prices for the tracking device.

We took his number and told him that we would get back to him as he was offering to install a tracking device that had extra security feature at Sh12,000," they recall.

When the couple did a market survey, they realised Mwaura was not lying that in the established companies, the tracking devices go for between Sh25,000 and Sh35,000.

It is then that they went to the place Mwaura had asked them to find him around Ngara area in Nairobi.

"He had no office but installed the device and showed us how to track the vehicle using the phone. He accepted Sh6,000 as down payment with the rest to be cleared in a month’s time. We were satisfied that our car was safe," the e email says.

Now that the couple had a car, the prospects of visiting places became easier. They decided to go and see a piece of land they had bought off Thika Road some years back.

"As we were viewing other pieces of land and enquiring about the current value of land, we noted some familiar looking men who passed us. But we ignored them because we could not place the faces," it says.

On their way back as they approached Thika Highway, their vehicle suddenly stalled.

"We got out and on opening the bonnet, three armed men stopped besides us and pointed guns at us.

"We were ordered back into the car. One man fiddled with his phone and the car started. Later, we stopped at a secluded area and the thieves opened the bonnet and removed the tracking device. It is like they had all the information on the tracking gadget," the writer explains.

They stripped the couple naked and tied them together.

They left with the couple’s baby after raping the woman and beating her husband until he lost consciousness.

Offer of help

"We were there until the next morning when a passer-by came to our aid. We were rushed to Thika District Hospital after which we ended up in Kenyatta National Hospital. "We found our baby at a police station having been taken there by a Good Samaritan. However, to date we haven’t found the vehicle," they say.

An officer with the Serious Crime Prevention Unit investigating the case says they have not heard of such incidences before.

"This is the first case we have received and we are working to nip the crime on the bud before it escalates," the source said.

Deputy Police Spokesman Owino Wahong’o says he was yet to be furnished with the details of the case. However, he says that people who are likely to fall victim to such crimes are those who engage firms or people who are not registered.

"If one has bought a vehicle, they should be cautious with who they are dealing with and not engage with people on the sideways. Cheap is expensive. Buyers should always engage firms that are registered and have offices," he warns.

He acknowledges the problem could be due to the fact that the Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) has not deactivated lines that have not been registered.

"These are phone related crimes and by now CCK should have blocked or disconnected the lines that have not complied with registration regulations.

The crimes are perpetrated by people who are not registered and it is difficult to pin down the culprits," he says.

Last month President Kibaki directed the CCK to block all unregistered phone numbers, but the directive is yet to be effected.

The Underworld established that the criminals could be working with some of the car yard dealers in exchange for a fee.

"No one can hang around a car bazaar without the dealers’ knowledge. There are people who usually hang around car yards looking for potential customers for various services," a taxi driver around one of the yards along Ngong Road said.