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Four suspected thugs were Tuesday morning shot and killed in a house in Kijipwa, Takaungu area, Kilifi County and a stolen police AK47 rifle found on them.
The rifle had seven live bullets at the time of the recovery, police said.
The men were linked to a series of robberies that had been reported in Machakos, Kwale and Mombasa in which money was stolen.
The slain men include a suspect who was wanted in connection with a robbery incident at an M-Pesa shop in Mombasa in February this year that was captured on a CCTV camera.
After the robbery in February 2023, police arrested one Festus Mutiya Kaloki alias Kamwana and Peter Kilaa and arraigned them before a Mombasa court.
The two were arrested within Kongowea area in Nyali, after an informant called with police.
Police told the court that the suspects committed the offence with others still at large while armed with AK47 assault rifle at Economy Way Mini supermarket in Manoni, Kiembeni.
The detectives told the court that the suspects stormed the building and ordered everyone to lie down before stealing an unknown amount of money from the M-Pesa shop in the building.
Police further told the court that the suspects are also being investigated over a spate of robberies with violence in Mombasa County and that several victims had made reports in different police stations.
The robbery with violence incidences were reported under OB numbers 29/13/1/2023 at Nyali police station, 25/15/02/2023 (Kadzandani police station), 20/07/02/2023 (Tononoka police station) and in Changamwe and Mtwapa.
They were held for 21 days before they were set free.
Come Tuesday, June 13, Kaloki was among the four who were in a house in Mkwajuni, Takaungu and were allegedly planning a robbery.
The second slain suspect was identified as Tsuma Ndoro while the other two did not have identification cards.
They had been trailed from Likoni to the area where they planned the robbery, police said.
No police officer was injured during the confrontation at midnight. The bodies were moved to the mortuary pending identification and autopsy.
It later emerged the AK47 rifle that was found on the suspects had been robbed off from a police officer during a robbery incident in Matuu, Machakos County on July 27, 2021.
During the robbery at Equity Bank, five armed robbers entered the bank after grabbing the weapons from the officers guarding it.
The raid is said to have lasted for over 10 minutes before the gang drove off amid a chase.
The bank was then closed on a temporary basis to reinforce its security measures.
It was until June 13, 2023, that the weapon was recovered in Kilifi. BY THE STAR