Police in Kisumu have recovered a burnt shell of a suspected stolen motor vehicle in Kajulu, Kisumu East Sub-county, as a wider operation to dismantle a motor vehicle theft syndicate intensifies in the area.
The discovery, made Friday, brings to 17 the total number of stolen vehicles recovered in the lakeside city over the last five days.
According to Kisumu East Sub-county Police Commander Edward Wafula, members of the public in Kamenya Village, West Kajulu Location, alerted the police after spotting the wreckage of a vehicle dumped in a thicket.
A team of officers from Mamboleo Police Post, accompanied by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Kisumu East and Scenes of Crime (CSI) personnel, visited the scene and found a completely burnt vehicle shell.
Wafula said preliminary investigations revealed that a local man, identified as Dren Onyango, 27, allegedly brought the vehicle believed to have been stolen from Kitale to his homestead on October 7, at around 3am.
He reportedly dismantled it later that day, with the help of mechanics, removing the engine and auxiliary parts before burning the shell and concealing it in the thicket.
The stripped parts, he said, were transported to an unknown location, possibly for sale as second-hand spares.
He added that a search at the suspect’s homestead led to the recovery of a pair of number plates, KBV 866V which had been dumped in a pit latrine.
Records indicate that a white Toyota Baradoa, bearing the same registration number, had been reported stolen by its owner, Geoffrey Kiprop, at the Kitale Police Station, under OB No. 83/30/9/2025.
The suspect has since gone into hiding and is being sought by detectives.
The burnt shell was photographed, documented, and towed to the Mamboleo police Post yard, as investigations continue.
In a related operation, police from Kasagam police station arrested one suspect and recovered another stolen vehicle following an intelligence-led crackdown in Butere Sub-county in Kakamega.
The officers raided a homestead in Muyundi Sub-location, believed to belong to the father-in-law of the main suspect in the syndicate, Evans Otieno Meda.
During the operation, the officers recovered a white Toyota Axio, registration number KDH 490S, suspected to have been stolen.
The vehicle was found hidden in a compound belonging to Mzee Anangwe, the father-in-law of the prime suspect.
Another suspect Musa Abdalla, identified as the driver and an accomplice in the theft, was arrested at the scene and escorted back to Kisumu under heavy police guard.
The vehicle has been detained at Kasagam Police Station as an exhibit, while the suspect remains in custody, awaiting further action.
Police say the ongoing operation is part of an intensified effort to dismantle a network believed to be ferrying stolen vehicles from various parts of the country into Kisumu for dismantling and resale.
By Chris Mahandara
