Two robbery suspects are nursing gunshot wounds at a city hospital after they snatched a mobile phone from a detective who was driving an unmarked police vehicle and defied orders to stop.
The robbery suspects, who were shamelessly snatching mobile phones from motorists at the Allsopps interchange last evening, met chief inspector Elizabeth Lumumba in her element after snatching a mobile phone from her driver Corporal Hassan Mbwana.
The suspects proceeded to rob other motorists of their valuables, taking advantage of the traffic build up that is characteristic of the interchange during rush hours.
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But in a case of hunter becoming the hunted, Elizabeth attached to DCI’s Anti Narcotics branch and a fellow agent on the back seat jumped from the vehicle, whipped out their firearms and fired two shots at the thugs after they defied orders to stop.
The thugs, who were each shot on their legs, braved the injuries and fled towards Ruaraka.
This attracted the attention of other motorists who emboldened by the presence of the sleuths equally leapt out of their vehicles and joined in the chase, oblivious of the danger they had exposed themselves to.
Torn between urging the motorists to remain in their vehicles or pursuing the suspects, Elizabeth chose the latter since the crowd had been joined by irate ‘nduthi’ men who cornered the thugs a few metres away.
What followed was a torrent of heavy blows from the rowdy mob as street justice was meted on the miscreants, disfiguring their mandibular anatomy and facial appearance.
Pleas by the two detectives to let the law take its course fell on deaf ears, as the ‘nduthi’ men continued with their onslaught accusing the thugs of soiling their good reputation by using motorbikes to commit crimes.
It took the intervention of the Officer Commanding Ruaraka police station and a contingent of his officers to calm the infuriated crowd and rescue the suspects, from their moment of death that had already beckoned.
The two thugs whose lives hang in the balance are currently receiving treatment at a city hospital, as Starehe based detectives wait for their discharge to slap them with appropriate charges, in strict conformity to the law.
