UPDATE 8:37am: The National Police Service (NPS) on Wednesday evening, July 7, dismissed a viral video in which a police officer's phone was snatched by a pillion passenger aboard a motorbike.
In a statement, NPS stated that the video had been manipulated.
"Our investigations have revealed that a video circulating on social media insinuating to be of a police officer being snatched a phone is a manipulated video whose intention is malicious."
Further, the police service asked members of the public to ignore it.
A man was captured stealing a mobile phone from a traffic police officer in the Roysambu underpass on Tuesday, July 6.
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In an a short video captured by a dash cam, the officer was seen speaking on his phone before a pillion passenger aboard a motorcycle quickly snatched it and the rider sped up.
The officer was thrown into a moment of confusion before he quickly gathered his thoughts and seemingly asked another motorcyclist to go after the suspect.
Afterwards, the stunned officer went on to control traffic.
A similar video was also captured in Ruiru on Monday, July 5, where a boda boda rider snatched a mobile phone from a lady in Ruiru.
The lady, who was in the company of her three friends, was using the mobile phone before a boda boda rider snatched it in split seconds.
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The tactic is just one of the many that robbers have derived to steal mobile phones and personal effects from unsuspecting Kenyans.
Some of the estates that are notorious for this vice include; Nairobi CBD, Ngara, Githurai, Kasarani, Ruiru among others.
When there is a traffic snarl-up, the robbers will hurriedly open the car window, snatch the mobile phone and melt away in the crowd.
The Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) urges members of the public who may have fallen victim of muggings and robberies to make formal reports.
"While many victims take to social media to narrate their ordeals in the hands of mugger gangs (which is good sensitization), we further urge them to formalize those complaints...
"Many are scenarios when suspected muggers go scot-free even after they have been arrested along various streets and walks within the CBD, as the few who report at the station fail to pursue their cases or never turn up for hearings," reads the statement by DCI.
