Bangale OCS dies during security operation against militia in Tana River

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The Officer Commanding Station (OCS) of Bangale Police Station in Tana River County died during a security operation targeting armed militia in Bangale Sub-County.

According to police , Chief Inspector Sylvester Wambua was part of a joint security team comprising officers from the Kenya Police Service (KPS), Rapid Deployment Unit (RDU), Administration Police Service (APS), and the General Service Unit (GSU) that was deployed to Biyagadud area on Thursday, June 25, 2026.

The operation, led by Sub-County Police Commander (SCPC) Julius Rotich, was mounted following an earlier security incident involving suspected militia members in the area.

Police said the team pursued the armed group towards the Lebile area, where they encountered the suspects, triggering a fierce exchange of gunfire that lasted approximately 40 minutes.

After the confrontation ended, officers realized that Chief Inspector Wambua was missing.
A search operation was immediately launched and his body was later found lying face down about 100 metres from the main tarmac road, with his G3 rifle beside him.

According to the report, officers who recovered the body did not observe any visible injuries. However, the officer was unresponsive and his body had become stiff.

He was rushed to Medinah Hospital, where medical personnel pronounced him dead on arrival.

The body has been preserved at the hospital mortuary pending a post-mortem examination to establish the exact cause of death.

The circumstances surrounding the officer’s death remain under investigation, with authorities expected to rely on the post-mortem findings and operational reports from the scene.

The death of the senior officer comes amid ongoing security operations against armed militia groups operating in parts of Tana River County.

The area has been experiencing inter clan fighting which has left at least 7 people dead in a week.

Elsewhere, police in Tana River County are investigating the discovery of a decomposed body floating next to a fishing boat that had been reported missing days earlier with four crew members on board.

According to police, fishermen spotted an abandoned boat and a body floating beside it along Shekiko Beach in Ozi Location, Kipini Division, on Thursday morning.

Officers from the Kenya Police Service and detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) visited the scene and found a vessel christened Benazir along the shoreline of the Indian Ocean within the Shekiko area.

Investigators discovered a decomposed body floating beside the boat, with the deceased’s left arm tied using a yellow manila rope.

Police established that the vessel had been reported missing at Malindi Police Station after it failed to return from a fishing expedition on June 21, 2026. At the time, four crew members were said to have been on board.

The body was positively identified as that of Deche Chipande, a 45-year-old fisherman, by his brother, Hakika Katore. Identification was made through distinctive Christian cross tattoos on the deceased’s chest and left arm.

Crime scene investigators processed and documented the scene before the body was transferred to the Malindi Sub-County Hospital mortuary for preservation and post-mortem examination.

The whereabouts of the other crew members remain unknown, and authorities have launched investigations to establish the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of the vessel and the death of the fisherman.

Police are also expected to continue search efforts as concern grows over the fate of the remaining crew members who were aboard the boat when it went missing.