Manhunt launched for armed gang that attacked 13 police officers
What you need to know:
- Police reports indicate that four officers were injured during the incident.
- A source hinted that two police officers in the county, among them an OCS, were recently suspended for abetting drug trafficking.
Police in Isiolo have launched a manhunt for an armed gang that attacked 13 officers on a mission to recover a consignment of bhang hidden at Barambate in Garbatulla along Isiolo-Garissa border.
The officers, who were acting on intelligence reports, had arrested one of the suspected traffickers and were on the way to apprehend other dealers when they were ambushed by more than 20 armed men.
Police reports indicate that four officers were injured during the incident. A female officer, who was badly wounded, was airlifted to Nairobi for specialised treatment while the rest were treated at a local hospital.
The attack, officials say, was prompted by the multiagency failure to handcuff the suspect who reportedly contacted other his accomplices allowing them to ambush the officers a few kilometers to the area where the consignment was hidden.
Garbatulla Deputy County Commissioner Stephen Nyakundi said the suspect escaped during the shootout and that investigations into the incident had been launched.
The administrator said the badly injured officer was recuperating at a hospital in Nairobi and that the three others, who had soft tissue injuries, were treated and discharged.
“We are tracking down the suspects and have already gotten names for three of them. We must seize the narcotics and arrest the criminals,” Mr Nyakundi told the Nation.
He lamented that some rogue police officers were colluding with drug traffickers making it difficult for police to stop the business that has ruined the lives of many youths in the county.
A source hinted that two police officers in the county, among them an OCS, were recently suspended for abetting drug trafficking.
