Police probe bank tellers over murder of teacher in Mumias

Detectives probing the gruesome murder of a teacher by unknown assailants after withdrawing Sh285,000 from a bank in Mumias town have narrowed their investigations to two bank tellers.

The Standard has established the two bank employees who served Roseylda Akinyi are persons of interests even as they pursue two other suspects who were captured through the bank's CCTV cameras.

This comes as it emerged that the deceased was stabbed by a knife and not shot by a gun as earlier reported by authorities.

According to Western Regional Criminal Investigation Officer, Njeru Nthiga, they are pursuing two men who were seen engaging a bank teller and a guard suspiciously.

"So far so good, we are not doing badly. We have two suspects who were in the bank and they were seen engaging a bank teller at the loan section and a bank security guard and they were asking questions that do not make sense," said Nthiga.

He added, "She was not killed by a gun but rather the killer used a sharp and long knife for piercing and the knife went through the left side of the chest, cut the right aorta of the heart and came out through the right side of the ribs before it was removed and that is why there were small wounds at the entry and exit different from the effects of a gun."

Furthermore, according to the preliminary investigation from the detectives, one suspect was asking for a loan that was not in existence while another one was engaging a guard alleging that some money had been sent to the wrong number and he needed help in a time game as they waited for the deceased to make a withdrawal.

According to Nthiga the region DCI boss, the sleuths have obtained CCTV footage from the Cooperative Bank Mumias Branch showing the suspect stalking the deceased while pretending to be on the phone when in the queue.

"The suspects are seen suspiciously looking at the deceased and we suspect their conduct and if they are not the killers or the scouts for killers, they should show or direct us to the killers if they are not the one," said Nthiga.

Police believe that they identified two bank tellers, a bank security guard and the boda boda operator who was carrying the deceased, have some crucial information in unearthing the murder.

"We have a lot of options we are exploring because when you make a bulk withdrawal, bank tellers can set you up or a bank guard or maybe the suspects might see the kind of withdrawal and decide to trail you. However, the boda boda operator is said to be the relative of the late and we are also questioning him to find out whether he was an informer or not but to establish this we need to retrieve his communication," he said.

"Already we have the mobile phone of the deceased in our possession for further analysis. It is a difficult process but we have to do it," said Nthiga.

The detective boss the incident had nothing to do with the loss of three guns, including two pistols and an AK-47, in unclear circumstances from different police stations across the region.

Last week, Akinyi was waylaid by a group of thugs in a saloon car moments after she had withdrew money from the bank. She was attacked barely a kilometer from the bank.