Mourners attending a burial in Meru County turned rowdy and raided two police stations in Igembe Central Sub County before freeing suspects and escaping with firearms.
According to an Occurrence Book (OB) report seen by Kenyans.co.ke, the mourners, estimated to be 500, first raided the Antubeiga Police Post on Wednesday, December 6, at around 12:42 pm.
The group then broke into the station's armoury box and ran away with two firearms that were loaded.
"They broke the armoury metal box and stole from therein one AK47 rifle serial no. KP 5428814 loaded with 29 rounds of 7.62mm special. They also burnt the exhibit store," read the OB report in part.
Police indicated that a house belonging to one of its officers was also torched during the raid.
No one was injured during the fire. However, nothing could be salvaged in the officer's house.
"At around 1630 hrs, they proceeded to Muringene Police Station and damaged a power garget backup, an HPV 20 HD monitor, a CPU, laser jet and a Keyboard."
"The prisoners held in cells were also forcefully rescued," read the report in part.
Police documented that the freed suspects had been held at the stations for allegedly committing various crimes, including theft and assault.
Forthwith, a manhunt for the suspects was launched even as police prioritised recovering the loaded firearms.
Officers from the local Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) were also roped in to aid in tracking down the suspects. No arrest had been made by the time of publishing this article.
The reasons behind the raids at the two police stations raids were yet to be established. However, it was indicated that the mourners, mostly the youth, were attending the burial of their colleague who was allegedly murdered.
Nonetheless, the police did not release the details of the main suspect in the death of the 16-year-old boy.
