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Gangsters rob passengers
2006-05-22 07:31:58
By Adam Ihucha, Namanga
Armed gangsters in police uniform blocked the Arusha-Namanga highway on Saturday night and robbed passengers of unknown amount of money, clothes, shoes and an assortment of other goods, police said at the weekend.
Arusha Regional Police Commander Basilio Matei told reporters yesterday that the ambush, the second in two weeks, took place at around 10pm at Engikaret.
One of the passengers, Longishu Sangito, a businessman, said the incident occurred at between 10pm and 12pm when the gangsters erected a roadblock at Engikaret, where they robbed passengers of their valuables at gunpoint.
According to Sangito, most motorists initially thought the gangsters were actually police officers because of the uniform they were wearing.
’’There were about nine vehicles. But they could have been more because under the circumstances, it was difficult to count them.’’ he said.
It was not until the drivers stopped ’for inspection’ that they realised they had driven into the trap of a criminal gang.
The armed robbers then ordered passengers in all vehicles to disembark and lie face down, after which they robbed them of their valuables, including luggage.
’’Having accomplished their mission, the armed robbers ordered the victims back on board of a van heading to Arusha.
They then carjacked another vehicle, which they used to escape,’’ Sangito, who lost 4m/- and US$2,500 in cash, said.
Police said among the stolen items were cellular phones, wrist watches, gold chains, necklaces and money. No arrests have so far been made.
The incident comes just two weeks after a similar one at Kikatiti on the Arusha-Moshi road.
In the first incident, a gang of eight highway robbers, erected a roadblock on the Arusha-Moshi for about one hour and robbed passengers of more than 10 vehicles of their valuables before carjacking another and escaping.
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