Policeman part of poaching gang killed at ranch

A police officer is among two suspected poachers killed by Kenya Wildlife Service rangers at Solio ranch on Saturday night.

Central region police boss Larry Kieng on Tuesday identified the officer as Constable George Nderitu, who had recently been posted to guard the Central Bank in Nyeri town.

The identity of the other person is yet to be established but police suspect that he too was an officer.

Mr Kieng said the officer was off-duty on Friday after he asked for permission to go home and take care of his wife, who had delivered a new baby.

However, the wife came looking for him at the bank when he failed to return home on Saturday.

He was one of the two men gunned down at Solio ranch while armed with a G3 riffle and a sword. The weapons were found at the scene of the shooting.

A third man escaped with another gun which police said was to be used for shooting rhinos and elephants in the ranch.

The G3 riffle was loaded with seven rounds of ammunition, according to the police.

A GSU jungle bag marked GSU 74 lay at the scene together with car keys and another used to unlock handcuffs.

There were no identity cards on the bodies. Only a matatu receipt that indicated the two could have boarded a matatu in Nyeri town was found on them.

Kieni West police boss Kipruto Kemboi said rangers and GSU officers guarding the ranch ambushed three people in the forest at midnight.

“There may have been three groups judging from the number of gunshots and the direction they came from,” said Mr Kemboi.

Mr Kemboi said the suspected poachers may have been targeting rhinos at a nearby dam.