An accountant was abducted and robbed of Sh600,000 moments after withdrawing the money from a KCB Bank branch in Bungoma, in a brazen daylight attack that has prompted police to investigate whether the gang behind the robbery had prior knowledge of the cash transaction.
The incident occurred on Thursday afternoon along the Bungoma–Chwele Road near Sikusi, where the victim, a district accountant based in Sirisia, was travelling on a boda boda after withdrawing the cash from the bank.
According to police, the accountant and the motorcycle rider noticed a vehicle trailing them from Bungoma Town shortly after they left the bank at about 12.30 pm.
Their journey was abruptly cut short when the vehicle intercepted the motorcycle. Five men, one of them reportedly armed with a pistol, forced both the accountant and the rider into the waiting vehicle before driving them along a remote murram road.
Investigators said the gang robbed the accountant of Sh600,000 in cash, his national identity card, the bank withdrawal slip and a Tecno Spark 8 mobile phone.
The boda boda rider also lost Sh390 in cash and an M10 mobile phone. His TVS Star motorcycle was abandoned at the scene.
The victims were later dumped in a maize plantation in the Kimilili area, from where they managed to make their way to Kimilili Police Station and report the ordeal.
Police officers visited the scene, recovered the abandoned motorcycle and launched investigations to trace the suspects and recover the stolen property.
Detectives believe the robbery may have been carefully planned and are investigating whether the attackers obtained prior information about the accountant’s cash withdrawal before trailing him from the banking hall.
As part of the investigation, officers visited the KCB branch where the withdrawal was made and sought access to CCTV footage to establish whether the suspects had been conducting surveillance inside or outside the bank before following the victim.
Police have not alleged any wrongdoing by KCB or its employees. However, investigators are examining all possible leads, including whether information about the transaction could have reached the robbers before the victim left the bank.
The case has revived concerns over criminal gangs commonly referred to by investigators as “banking hall spotters” who allegedly identify customers withdrawing large sums of money before relaying information to accomplices waiting outside financial institutions.
Similar robberies have been reported in Nairobi, Machakos and other towns over the past several years, with some investigations leading to the arrest of organised gangs accused of targeting bank customers immediately after cash withdrawals.
Security experts say such syndicates often operate in coordinated teams, with some members monitoring customers inside or near banking halls while others follow victims before staging robberies at less crowded locations.
Police are reviewing CCTV footage from the bank and businesses along the route taken by the victims, analysing mobile phone data and pursuing forensic leads as they work to identify the attackers.
The incident has renewed calls for customers withdrawing large amounts of cash to exercise caution, remain alert for suspicious vehicles and seek security escorts where necessary.
No arrests had been made by Friday as investigations continued.
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