3 suspected carjackers shot dead on Naivasha Nakuru highway

By Festus Lang’o

Three suspected carjackers were Saturday night gunned down by police at Mithuri area on the Naivasha – Nakuru highway.

Confirming the incident, Naivasha Deputy OCPD John Kwasa said the three,  among them a woman, defied orders to surrender, forcing police to fire at them.

The woman, who was sporting a tattoo, was alleged to be the mastermind of the carjacking incidents and was on the police watch list.

The police boss added that the suspects were among six allegedly planning to hijack a Nairobi-bound bus when they were ambushed by the officers following a tip-off from the public.

Mr. Kwasa linked the felled suspects to a series of carjacking incidents on the Nairobi – Nakuru and Mai Mahiu – Narok highways. Last week alone the suspects reportedly hijacked two buses headed to different destinations on different days.

The police added that dozens of SIM cards, 10 mobile phones, a home-made gun and a machete were among other items recovered from the suspects after the operation.

According to the Deputy OCPD, the deceased alongside their colleagues who are still at large, had in the wee hours of Saturday morning hijacked a Narok-bound matatu and robbed passengers off their personal effects.

The suspects’ mode of operation included boarding a matatu posing as passengers and alighting at a point where their accomplices lay in wait.

Their bodies were transferred to the Naivasha Referral Hospital mortuary.