Two journalists were on Tuesday rescued by officers from Kaptembwa Police Station in Nakuru County.
The journalists, allegedly from K24 and Mount Kenya TV narrowly escaped death in the hands of an angry mob that had bound them in ropes, beating them.
The scribes were in the company of four other people, among them an enforcement officer from Molo, a sweeper from a health centre in Nakuru East, a driver and another government official.
According to Nakuru West Sub-county police commander, Patrick Olonyi, who spoke to Kenyans.co.ke, they rescued and later arrested the six after receiving a distress call from residents.
"One of the journalists said he was from K24 and another claimed that he was a driver from Mount Kenya TV.
"They were arrested by members of the public, some of them were beaten and we rescued them," he reported.
After the rescue mission, the police launched investigations as to why the six had received the beating, only to find out they were accused of extorting residents, leading to their arrest.
Olonyi affirmed that the group had made its move on August 3, 2019, and another, on the same day that led to their arrests.
Reports claim that the individuals were allegedly covering an investigative story about illegal immigrants working in a quarry, but the claim was disputed by residents who stated that they had sufficient evidence against them.
"They (the 6) had become extreme and the citizens decided to alert the police. They were arrested by residents, tied them up and we went for them.
"The locals who arrested the journalists claimed that they had had several encounters with the same outfit before the Tuesday incident," he outlined.
After their apprehension at around 2 pm, they were released on a cash bail of Ksh 10,000. Three were able to pay while the remaining, who were unable to raise the amount, spent the night in custody.
On Wednesday morning at around 9 am, the suspects were arraigned in court and were charged with attempting to extort.
Olonyi confirmed that investigations were still ongoing and that the residents were willing to testify against them.
