Meru shooting probe: Twist as police boss arrested after gun goes missing

Laare Police station where the murder of a nyumba kumi official was reported.

Photo credit: Charles Wanyoro I Nation Media Group

Investigations into the fatal shooting of a Nyumba Kumi official in Igembe North, Meru County, took a shocking twist after a decorated officer was arrested over the alleged disappearance of the murder weapon. The local police boss is said to have lost a pistol that was in his custody.

Sleuths picked up the officer after the weapon, which was to be taken for ballistic tests, went missing.

Two police officers from the Laare station had arrested Duncan Murangiri over Sunday’s killing of Mr Josphat Ntarangwi in Kiani kia Baimula, Igembe North, Meru County. They allegedly informed their boss and handed the gun to him for safe custody as evidence.

But when Mr Murangiri was booked as a robbery with violence suspect, a police report did not mention the gun. It is then that the matter was raised with his seniors and Meru County Criminal Investigations Officer Dennis Wekesa started looking into the case, but the police boss denied having received the firearm.

According to a report seen by the Nation, police searched the officer's house and found Sh220,100 and an item believed to be a toy pistol. They then searched his office and the armoury but did not find the missing gun.

Mr Wekesa said the police boss is being held at the Meru Police Station and would be charged with conspiracy to defeat justice and compounding a felony.

Yesterday, he was presented in a Meru Magistrate Court and police were granted more time to complete their investigations.

Meanwhile, in a Maua court, Senior Principal Magistrate Caroline Obara allowed police to hold Mr Murangiri for two more days to finalise their investigations.

State Counsel Abdinoor Ahmed told the court that they were waiting for a ballistic report into two empty cartridges of 7.62mm found at the scene of Mr Ntarangwi’s murder.

He told the court that the man was a flight risk because of the alleged murder, and that police suspected that he was armed and dangerous.

Mr Ahmed said they required more 14 days before formally charging him so as to allow witnesses to record statements and sleuths to get the suspect’s call data from the DCI cybercrime unit.

Mr Murangiri, who was represented by lawyer Hoseah Mutembei, protested, arguing that he was a resident of Mutuati in the same constituency and had two wives and thus could not flee.

Ms Obara allowed prosecutors two more days and asked them to present Mr Murangiri in court on Tuesday next week.

Mr Ntarangwi, a miraa trader at Laare market, was shot in the palm and head at around 9pm and died on the spot.

He was returning home with his wife Caroline Kawira after chairing a burial planning committee when they were ambushed by thugs, leading to a confrontation.

Ms Kawira said the gun-toting gangsters had emerged from a bushy area and confronted them, forcing the couple to run in separate directions.

She said one of the attackers shot at her but missed. It is alleged that the gangsters then fled on a motorcycle.

Antu Ambui Senior Chief Gerald Kithia mourned Mr Ntarangwi as a dedicated community leader who had helped fight crime and reconcile many families.

“Since he took over as Nyumba Kumi head, the crime rate has reduced. He was loved by many and we urge the police to quickly investigate his murder,” he said.