Man’s Sh2.1m stolen from car during stopover at Busia hotel

Police in Busia are looking for suspects caught on CCTV cameras breaking into a man’s car and stealing Sh2.14 million that he’d earlier withdrawn from a local bank.

The victim, 47, had made a stopover at Western Ambiance Hotel in Bumala, Butula Sub-County on Friday, January 28, when the thieves struck.

The man had carried the cash in his car, a Toyota Premio, from the bank, where he’d made the withdrawal.

“After [the brief stopover], he continued with his journey. Shortly after take-off, he was taken aback after realising a second bag containing Sh144,000 in cash, that was in the rear seat, was missing. Amidst hope that the worst had not happened, he pulled over and went for the larger sum in the trunk, only to find the bag gone,” the DCI said in a statement on Twitter on Saturday, January 29.

In total, the victim lost Sh2.14 million, police said.

Upon realising that his funds had been stolen, the victim made a U-turn and went to Western Ambiance Hotel to request CCTV recordings.

“The footage had captured occupants of an unestablished car make [of] registration number KCM 948U use a key to gain ingress into the victim’s car, before walking back to their vehicle carrying two bags and driving off,” said the DCI.

The victim, thereafter, filed a report at a nearby police station.

“On receiving the report, detectives processed the scene and commenced [a] hunt for the criminals. They (police), however, lost trail of the hoodlums after the registration plates earlier used on the suspicious vehicle were found dumped at a roadside,” said the DCI.

Police say they are using “other forensic leads to pursue the perpetrators, as we seek to establish the victim’s reason for carrying the huge sum [of money] for a long distance”.