MCA returns stolen AK47 rifle to police, before fleeing the station

By Moses Muli

Published Dec.6,2023 12:18(EAT)

Two police officers were injured in the drama, officials said

Detectives are investigating an incident in which a police officer was attacked and robbed of his AK47 rifle in a village in Navokholo, Kakamega County.

The weapon was, however, later returned to Makunga police station by a Member of the County Assembly.

Police said he drove out of the station in haste after dropping the weapon loaded with 30 bullets.

Efforts to get the MCA for questioning over the Tuesday night incident are ongoing.

According to police, a group of police officers were on patrol within Shikomari area when they came across a group of unknown people armed with crude weapons assaulting one person only known by the name ‘Jose’.

The officers intervened and tried to rescue him but the rowdy crowd charged at them.

One of the attackers tried to attack one of the officers with a machete but it landed on the wooden hand guard of his AK47 rifle and slipped off the officer’s hands, police said.

Another attacker grabbed the rifle and took off.

The officer was however able to seize the assailants’ panga as the crowd escaped the scene leaving the injured person on the ground who also escaped later.

One of the police officers complained of injuries in the left shoulder and another in both legs and was treated and discharged from Makunga Health Centre.

Hours later, an MCA from the area brought the rifle back to the station and handed it over to the report office personnel.

According to police, before he could be questioned, he drove off from the station to an unknown destination.

Police said efforts to trace the leader are ongoing.

They want to interrogate him and establish the motive of the drama before knowing the way forward, a senior officer aware of the issue said.

It is not clear if he was among those who attacked the officers at the scene.

One machete was recovered and kept as an exhibit. The area has been experiencing a rise in cases of violent attacks amid calls to address the trend.