Police in Migori County have launched an investigation into a suspected inside job at a popular local entertainment joint, following a brutal weekend raid that left a night guard dead and property worth Sh600,000 stolen.

The cold blooded attack occurred in the early hours of Monday morning at The Ranch Club, located in the Suna East area of Migori Town. The incident has sent shockwaves through the local business community amid a worrying spike in regional insecurity.

The “Inside job” blueprint

Detectives treating the case as an inside job pointed to highly unusual circumstances at the crime scene.

According to forensic investigators, the perpetrators appeared to have intimate knowledge of the club’s layout and operations.

“We suspect it could be an inside job since the room was broken into from the inside. No form of outside burglary was seen,” an investigator attached to the probe revealed.

Furthermore, police discovered that the establishment’s Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) surveillance system was deliberately sabotaged. The cameras were switched off at exactly 8:46 p.m. on Sunday night and only reactivated at 5:00 a.m. on Monday morning effectively blinding investigators during the exact window the crime took place.

The stolen inventory consisted of several high value electronics vital to the entertainment joint’s daily operations, including a commercial music system mixer, a laptop computer, and assorted television screens.

The perpetrators also targeted communication and financial assets, making away with multiple mobile devices, the establishment’s official mobile till money phone, and the personal mobile phone belonging to the murdered watchman.

Staff interrogations underway

Suna East Sub-County Police Commander Harriet Heilley confirmed that detectives are pursuing strong leads tightly linked to internal staff.
“Access to the CCTV controls is within the main premises, which has two doors the front door and the back door,” Commander Heilley explained. “The front door remained entirely intact, while the back door appears to have been broken from the inside.”

Heilley disclosed that police initially rounded up ten individuals in connection with the murder and robbery. Following preliminary interrogations, five suspects were released but remain under active police supervision to assist with the ongoing case.

“We have every reason to believe that the incident may have involved insiders. We are holding some staff members in custody to assist with investigations and we are confident we will soon apprehend those responsible,” Heilley added

Local resident Naphtali Atin noted that the timing of the raid highlights a terrifying trend targeting the town’s nightlife.

“There has been a rising wave of insecurity in Migori Town, particularly during the World Cup season. Business people are worried because criminals seem to be targeting establishments operating at night,” Atin said.

Prominent local businessman Boy Osire echoed these fears, urging the Ministry of Interior to deploy increased night patrols and utilize intelligence-led operations to dismantle criminal networks in the township.

Meanwhile, Commander Heilley has urged Migori business owners to rigorously vet their security personnel, ensure CCTV systems are heavily guarded and fully functional, and appealed to members of the public to volunteer any information that could lead to the arrest of the killers.