Two police officers hurt in mob attack in Kuresoi, car burnt
Residents of Kamwaura village in Kuresoi North, Nakuru County look at the shell of a car belonging to police officers which was burnt on July 24, 2019 after a man they had arrested cried for help. Two of the three officers who were not in uniform were injured in the attack. PHOTO | SAMUEL BAYA | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The injured were among three officers who had gone to arrest a businessman.
- The businessman said that he only learnt later that the car had been burnt by the crowd.
- Two firearms the officers had when they were attacked are safely at the Molo Police Station.
Two officers from Molo Police Station in Nakuru County are nursing injuries they sustained after they were attacked by irate residents at Kamwaura trading centre in Kuresoi North Sub-County.
They were among three officers who had gone to arrest a businessman by the name Peter Waithaka.
"It is true the incident happened and our officers are recovering at Molo Hospital," said Kuresoi North Deputy County Commissioner Felix Watakila.
He said investigations into the incident had begun and asked the locals not to take the law into their own hands.
"These were officers who were executing their lawful duties and we are wondering what [made] the locals to attack our officers,” said Mr Watakila.
GUNS SAFE
He further said that the two firearms the officers had when they were attacked are safely at the Molo Police Station.
According to the businessman, the three officers approached him on Tuesday evening and demanded that he accompanies them.
"I followed them and they bundled me into a waiting Probox car telling me that I was under arrest. I was shocked because they claimed to be police officers and that the woman claimed to be an OCS at Molo Police Station,” said Mr Waithaka.
NO ARREST WARRANT
He said that since the three officers did not have a warrant of arrest and that they were also not in uniform, he concluded that they were thieves and that was when he asked for help from the villagers.
"When the villagers heard my cry for help and seeing that I had been bundled into the boot of the Probox car, they came to rescue me. There was a lot of tension at the trading centre," said Mr Waithaka.
He said that he only learnt later that the car had been burnt by the crowd.
"I am going to write my statement today but I am fearing for my life. I could not tell they were police officers judging by how they approached me. They looked like bandits," he said.
