A 78-year-old woman was robbed of Sh150,000 after she had withdrawn the cash from a bank in Engineer area, Nyandarua County.
The woman said she had visited the Equity Bank Engineer branch and withdrew the cash on December 17 morning.
She then boarded a public service vehicle to her home in Gakorofa village in Mawingu sub-location oblivious of the dangers waiting for her.
She said after she alighted from the matatu and was walking home a few kilometers away, she and another friend were intercepted by three men.
The men had been in a salon car that was trailing the matatu carrying the woman, police said.
The gang, at gunpoint, grabbed her handbag that contained the money and personal documents, jumped back into the car and sped off.
The woman raised an alarm alerting locals who, using motorcycles gave a chase on the car carrying the suspects.
According to witnesses, the locals alerted the police who joined the chase on the vehicle, which was heading towards Gilgil general direction.
The vehicle was intercepted near Malewa Bridge after a tyre burst and the four occupants escaped into a thicket.
A search was mounted and one suspect was arrested with Sh28,000, police said.
A mob attacked him as police tried to drive him out of the scene. Police said he sustained injuries in the head, chest and shoulder.
Upon search of the vehicle, two toy pistols, a pair of handcuffs, a pocket phone, fake number plate stickers and a pair of number plates, which were later, found to be the car’s original number plates.
The car was towed to the local police station while the suspect was treated at Manunga Health Centre and discharged in stable condition.
He was later arrested.
Police say such incidents happen out of collusion with the banks’ rogue staff.
Other thieves hang in banks to see who transacts and what amount.
A team is investigating to establish if the victim was set up by people who were in the bank.
They will review CCTV cameras as part of the probe into the incident, which is the latest in major urban areas.
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