A suspected robber was shot dead by police during a late-night rescue operation after a man was allegedly held hostage and robbed by armed assailants in Maragua, Murang’a County.
According to police r, the incident occurred at about 11.50 p.m. on Thursday in the Mutaro area, where three armed men had allegedly accosted Vincent Ogongo Abuya in a maize plantation.
Police said they received information that the victim was being held hostage and robbed by the suspects. Officers from Maragua Police Station, including the duty team and Crime Aid personnel, responded immediately.
On arriving at the scene, the officers encountered three men armed with machetes. Police said they ordered the suspects to surrender, but one of them allegedly advanced towards a female officer, while raising a machete to attack her.
In response, the officer fired two rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition from an AK-47 rifle in self-defence, fatally injuring the suspect. The other two suspects escaped into the darkness.
Police recovered an Oppo R12 mobile phone, believed to have been stolen from the victim, along with two Type-C phone chargers. Officers also recovered a machete and a button phone believed to belong to the deceased suspect..
The body of the unidentified suspect, who sustained gunshot wounds, was moved to Murang’a Level Five Hospital Mortuary pending identification and a post-mortem examination.
Police have launched a manhunt for the two suspects who escaped.
And police have launched investigations into the murder of an 80-year-old man who was found dead inside his house in Nyandarua North Sub-County.
The victim, identified as Paul Kibuthu Kanyiria, was discovered on Thursday evening at his home within the Mairoinya area after relatives became concerned when he had not been seen for some time.
Police said the deceased’s son asked his nephew to check on the elderly man. The nephew, accompanied by neighbours, went to the house and found him lying unresponsive on the floor with visible head injuries.
Investigators found the body lying face down beside a bed inside the deceased’s two-bedroom timber house. The victim had injuries to the back of the head believed to have been inflicted with a sharp object. Police also noted marks on the neck consistent with a struggle and suspected the victim may have been strangled using a cord.
During the examination of the scene, investigators recovered a blood-stained metal rod and a blood-stained sisal string, which are believed to be possible murder weapons.
Crime scene personnel from Nyahururu documented and processed the scene before the body was moved to the Nyahururu County Referral Hospital mortuary awaiting a post-mortem examination.
Police have launched investigations to establish the motive behind the killing and identify those responsible.
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