The video of a man being forced into a waiting car in Rongai, with the car speeding away shortly afterwards went viral on Thursday, amid speculation that the man may have been the victim of an abduction.
Pulselive.co.ke news desk has since established that the incident was a lawful arrest of a notorious fraudster targeting M-Pesa shops.
The arrest was executed by detectives in plain clothes with the help of area residents who called the police after cornering him, and the suspect was taken to Ongata Rongai Police Station where journalists accessed him.
The suspect who is in police custody, identified as Duke Maingi was plying his trade in Rongai when the proverbial 40 days finally caught up with him, leading to his dramatic arrest.
His activities on the day of arrest are captured on camera, complete with his conversation with two M-Pesa shop attendants who he attempted to fleece.
After an unsuccessful attempt at the first shop, Maingi is seen making his way to the second shop, also fitted with a CCTV camera.
How suspect attempted to con M-Pesa agent
The footage, seen by this writer, shows the suspect making his way to an MPESA shop while on phone, talking to an accomplice who he presents to the shop attendant as customer care agent from a leading telecommunications company and hands over the phone to the attendant pretending that he needs assistance with a transaction.
The Rongai M-Pesa agent Rongai Elvis Muthoni however realized that it is all a con game and fails to fall for his tricks and within minutes, the suspect is cornered by a few men who confront him over his activities.
Someone came in akaniambia anataka niongee na customer care from Safaricom. I picked his phone; it was a random Safaricom number. Listening to him, he’s asking me for the agent number and other details. That’s when I hesitated.
Suspect cornered and handed over to police
Fredrick Okach, a businessman in Rongai who responded swiftly to the alarm raised by Muthoni confirmed that he cornered the suspect and prevented him from leaving the shop while the police are informed of the incident.
Vile nilimpata jamaa hapo ndani nikamwambia wewe hutoki. Vile alikujiwa tukamruhusu akawekwa ndani ya gari.
Detectives in plain clothes arrived shortly afterwards and are seen whisking him into a waiting car with the suspect resisting and screaming.
He was taken to Ongata Rongai Police Station.