The police are holding members of a gang who are suspected of having stolen Rwf 52 million from Cogebanque’s branch in Rwamangana, Eastern Province last month. 

The six-man gang is made up of Jean Claude Ntirenganya who allegedly led the bank raid; Lieutenant (rtd) John Museminali, Warrant Officer (rtd) Claude Ntayomba, and Juma Ntimpatse.

Two other are Local Defence Force (LDF) officers who were working at the Eastern Province offices adjacent to the bank that was robbed.

"The group worked closely with the LDF officers to plot the raid; the latter were assigned to make an Intersec guard fall asleep as the other team members broke into the bank,” said Police spokesman John Uwamungu.

He added: "The gang robbed Rwf 52 million, at the moment we are trying to recover the money; so far we have got two Toyota Corona’s that belong to Ntirenganya and Rwf3,950,000 in cash.”

According to the police, an unidentified girl was sent to the LDF with a can of local brew mixed with sedatives.

The LDF took the gourd of local brew to the guards of the bank who drank the brew, instantly blacking out.

Uwamungu said; "The LDF officers are being held in Rwamagana and we will hand them over to the prosecution tomorrow (today).”

According to police, the plan to raid the bank had been plotted long before but they kept aborting it because the robbers for a suitable moment when there was a substantial amount of money in the bank.

According to the police, the thieves had previously attempted to break into the bank three times but their plans  were botched.

Other members of the gang include, Gratien Shema and Egide Rumanzi who came up with the whole plan of robbing the bank but later fell out with his colleagues and were sidelined during the execution of the mission.

The two, including Ntirenganya’s driver, Innocent Sideribuye are also being held by the police.

Sideribuye is alleged to have participated in several raids elsewhere but managed to escape justice.

Ntirenganya owns two houses; one in Gisozi another one in Kicukiro both Kigali City suburbs and reportedly used as safe houses in previous robberies.

Ends