Criminal lawyer Cliff Ombetta on Monday, September 9, pointed an accusatory finger at the police over the alleged torture of the suspects in the Ksh72 million ATM heist that took place on Thursday, September 5.
He narrated before Chief Magistrate Martha Mutuku the experiences that his clients had gone through in police custody as they tried to extract information from them.
Ombeta told the court that the suspects in police custody were beaten and tortured by the detectives and that one of them was forced to make an admission that he was a police officer even though he wasn't.
People Daily reports that at the courts, Chief Magistrate Mutuku was shown how the second suspect, Duncan Kaveshi, was injured in the head and wrist after being tied with ropes and threatened by the police that they would unleash dogs on him.
Lawyer Ombetta also told the court that the detectives broke into the suspect's houses and destroyed the suspect's property as they searched.
“The detectives went into the suspects' houses and destroyed and broke the ceiling, the toilet and destroyed mattresses,’ Ombeta told the court.
The police are seeking to have the suspects detained for seven more days as they continue with the investigations, but lawyer Ombetta is opposed to the application, stating that the police have not filed the application in good faith, having tortured the suspects.
“If the police are left another one hour with them, they will do damage to them.. one of the respondents was pricked with a needle and pepper added to his finger for him to confess that he is a police officer, yet he is not,” he told the court in his submission.
The suspects in police custody so far are; Chris Machogi, Duncan Kaveshi Luvunga, Boniface Mutua, Vincent Owuor, Alex Mutuku, and Francis Muriuki.
Mutuku will rule on the case at 2.30pm on Monday, September 9.
