Investigations into the theft of four assault rifles at Kipasi Police Post in Homa Bay County intensified after three suspects were arrested in connection with the audacious burglary.
Homa Bay County Commissioner Moses Lilan said the trio were taken in as persons of interest and were helping the police unravel and trace the stolen guns along with an estimated 130 rounds of ammunition.
“We have established a specialized team to track down more suspects in connection with the break-in at the police post before the unknown number of raiders made away with the rifles and more than 130 rounds of ammunition,” he said.
The crackdown comes after a gang on Wednesday night sneaked into the cop shop without the knowledge of the officers manning the post stealing three AK47 rifles, one G3 riffle and 130 rounds of bullets.
Preliminary assessment at the scene of crime indicated that the burglars broke open the steel box used as the armory at a time when none of the six police officers attached to the post was reportedly present at the their duty station.
Two of the rifles were later recovered abandoned by the thugs after the security agencies stumbled on them while on a search mission.
Lilan however expressed optimism that the missing firearms may soon be recovered in the course of the investigations as the search mission that was combing through the Kipasi areas and its environs was pursuing major leads.
“We have enlisted key players in the search mission including the National Government Administration Officers (NGAOs) infrastructure, Nyumba Kumi and village elders and the general public to assist with any vital information that could lead us to the missing firearms,” he added.
He declared that the team would do what it takes to recover firearms because they were in the wrong hands of criminals believed to have planned the raid in advance to take advantage of the security lapse at the station.
“We will definitely find these criminals and deal with them decisively and retrieve the guns from their hands at all costs. I want to confirm that we will do whatever it takes to recover the firearms,” Lilan, who chairs the County Security Committee asserted.
He said adequate security personnel were mobilized and deployed across the county to track down the outlaws but urged members of the public to volunteer any information while assuring that it will be treated with utmost confidentiality.
By Sitna Omar and Brian Odhiambo
