A twenty man cartel loyal to a notorious arms dealer mobbed three DCI officers who were pursuing their boss on Sunday.
The three Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers had made their way to Lomut trading centre in West Pokot county following a tip-off that one of the most notorious arms dealers in the region had been spotted in the area.
However, the hunter soon became the hunted as the arms trafficker's personal henchmen numbering at least 20 ambushed the officers and pelted them with rocks, thereby providing the wanted trafficker with an easy escape route.
“They had gone to arrest him, with some back up from local police officers and police reservists, but the suspect resisted as his cartel started hurling stones and beating up the officers. Three officers were slightly injured and the suspect escaped on a lorry towards Baringo East,” West Pokot County police boss, Jackson Tumwet divulged to the Standard.
Tumwet went on to reveal that extensive investigations had led them to believe that one of the most wanted illegal firearms dealers from Baringo East had been spotted in the area by credible informants.
The suspected arms trafficker is believed to have bee engaged in the highly dangerous trade for many years, with intelligence reports suggesting he had most likely travelled to Lomut to seal a lucrative arms deal.
Pokot Central deputy County Commissioner, Were Simiyuh while addressing the media condemned the actions of the locals who had chosen to side with a known arms dealer.
Adding that anyone identified as having aided the trafficker to get away by attacking the police officers would be construed as a fellow criminal and thus liable to face the full force of the law.
“A criminal is a criminal, we don’t have categories of criminals. We cannot relent or entertain the public taking the law into their hands,” he said," he asserted.
He also revealed that the injured officers were rushed to Sigor Sub-County hospital where they were treated and duly discharged.
