INSECURITY MWEA.

INSECURITY MWEA. JANE MUGAMBI 25TH APRIL 2013. Residents of Kirinyaga south in Kirinyaga County are living in fear after the resurfacing of notorious criminals in the area. The souring security is as a result after three armed gang started terrorizing residents and cattle thieves changed tactics from stealing cattle to robbing and killing boda boda people. The most affected areas are Kiandegwa, Mutithi where a gang of three believed to be behind the shooting of a businessman two weeks ago are terrorizing residents and robbing them. On Saturday, the gang of three armed with an AK 47 raided an M-Pesa shop in Ngurubani town and stole over 100,000/- before proceeding to the village where they also robbed several business premises of unknown amount of money. Another gang believed to be behind the theft of cattle has now resurfaced and have turned to stealing and killing boda boda operators where they are dismantling the cycle before taking it to a ready market. On Sunday morning a family of a middle aged man believed to be a member of the gang had their house torched after wananchi did not get the suspected thief at home. The family suffered loss as they were not at home during the unexpected visit. The suspected thief was later spotted in Kagio town where wananchi tried to stop him but he ran away attracting a hot pursuit where they were able to corner him, he was killed and his accomplice was injured seriously but was taken to undisclosed hospital. The residents say that laxity in the police force has resulted to the increase in criminal activities where criminals are not being arrested despite their names being forwarded to the police. Contacted for comments, area police boss Apollo Onyonyi said rubbished the claims of laxity saying that the gang went into hiding after they learnt that police was looking for them. He said that the “new” crime of boda boda theft, they are following some leads which will lead to the arrest of the criminals urging residents to be patient as they are investigating the matter. Onyonyi however urged members of the public not to take law into their hands as the deceased could have given very vital information that could have lead to the arrest of his accomplices. “We are following the criminals closely, what we are being accused of laxity is not true as the criminals who have come back had gone into hiding. They strike and go into hiding, soon we are going to fish them out from their hide outs” said Onyonyi. ends..... 0723321326