A section of the Southern Bypass, Nairobi./FILE
A suspected criminal was Monday morning fatally shot along the Southern bypass in the Dagoretti area, Nairobi, following a failed robbery incident.
The stretch has been experiencing a surge in attacks targeting motorists. This has in the past left some of the motorists with serious injuries and damaged vehicles.
Police said the man was among a group that had been placing blocks on the road to cause accidents and rob motorists. They usually place huge blocks in places deemed dark spots to force motorists to stall and rob them.
Those who try to resist are left with injuries.
At the weekend, four such cases were reported on the busy road. Motorists were injured, had their cars damaged, and were robbed, police said.
This prompted police to take action and address the trend.
On Sunday midnight, one motorist was involved in an accident after hitting the setup blocks on the stretch in the Mutuini area.
According to the police, her car veered off the road and landed in a ditch before she was rescued by a team of police who were on patrol in the area to address the issue.
Her car was towed to the local police station as the police kept patrolling the area.
Minutes later, three men emerged from a bush and placed more blocks on the road.
Another motorist racing on the road oblivious of the dangers ahead bumped on the blocks causing a puncture on her car, police said adding this forced the driver to stop.
It was then a man armed with a panga and approached the
car.
The police moved into action and shot and killed the suspect. The other accomplices escaped into a nearby thicket and a search on them did not bear any fruits, police said.
A panga, stick and two mobile phones were recovered from the suspect.
Police moved the body to the mortuary pending an identification and investigations.
Nairobi police boss George Seda said they have intensified operations on the stretch to address the menace.
“We now have a team on the stretch to address any concerns of safety. We urge motorists to always report any incident they see,” he said.
Meanwhile, police are investigating an incident where a woman was electrocuted while cooking in her house in California, Nairobi.
The woman identified as Sharon Akinyi, 27, was busy cooking in her house using an electric cooker coil when the incident happened on Sunday evening.
Her body was found lying on the floor with serious burns on the abdomen.
The body was moved to the mortuary pending a postmortem.
