Two men allegedly ambushed Estone Himbaza at about 9 pm on Thursday and snatched her handbag, which contained Frw688, 000, a smartphone, electronic banking device and other personal particulars.
Chief Inspector of Police (CIP) Sylvestre Twajamahoro, the Police spokesperson for the City of Kigali said that the money and other stolen documents were recovered from one of the suspects identified as Emmanuel Hakizimana, who was also taken into custody.
'On Thursday at about 9pm, as Police officers were on their usual patrol in the area, they were stopped by residents, who informed them about a woman, who had just been ambushed and robbed by two men, taking her handbag, which contained money and other valuables. The residents directed Police officers towards the direction which the suspects had taken,' CIP Twajamahoro said.
'Police officers pursued and arrested one of the suspectsâ€"Emmanuel Hakizimanaâ€"at about 9:30pm, who was found in possession of the woman handbag that contained Frw516, 000, a smart phone, banking device and other documents that were in the names of Estone Himbaza. The recovered documents also helped to locate the victim,' the spokesperson added.
Hakizimana, who was handed over to Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) at Kanyinya station, has since disclosed his accomplice as one Gasongo.
According to Hakizimana, Gasongo is the one, who orchestrated the whole robbery plan.
CIP Twajamahoro said that law enforcement organs are working together to locate and arrest Gasongo.
He thanked the residents, who approached the Police and reported the criminal act, which facilitated quick recovery of the stolen items and arrest of one of the suspects.
The spokesperson said that such spirit by the public defines 'neighborhood watch' and 'community policing' in general.
Under article 166 of the law determining offences and penalties in general, any person convicted for theft is liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than one year and not more than two years and a fine of not less than Frw1 million and not more than Frw2 million, community service in a period of six months or only one of these penalties.
However, in article 167, the penalty doubles if theft was carried out during the night or by more than one person.
IGIHE
Source : https://en.igihe.com/news/article/police-recovers-stolen-money
