AfriPulse
A police officer at Kitale Police Station in Trans Nzoia County is at the center of a criminal investigation after a suspected impostor conned him into surrendering his service rifle and disappeared into the night on a waiting motorcycle.
The incident, recorded in an occurrence book (OB) report filed at the station, unfolded on Tuesday at around 9:30 pm in what investigators are treating as a carefully calculated deception.
The suspect arrived at the station’s main gate dressed in a police raincoat, a detail that immediately lent him an air of legitimacy. He introduced himself to the night guard, PC Ishmael Kimutai, as a newly deployed officer from Eldoret Police Station looking for accommodation within the police lines.
The stranger chatted briefly with PC Kimutai, PC Cornelius Kiplimo, and the officer in charge, Cpl Jeremiah Rotich, playing the role of a new colleague settling into a posting. After establishing that casual familiarity, he asked where he could buy food nearby, and PC Kimutai offered to walk him to a hotel in the area.
It was during that short walk that the con reached its critical moment. Along the way, the suspect asked PC Kimutai to let him carry the rifle, a Steyr rifle bearing serial number 3177302, loaded with 25 rounds of 9mm ammunition. The officer handed over the weapon near some shops, and the suspect immediately bolted, jumping onto a motorcycle that was already waiting and speeding off toward Kitale town.
What compounded the situation was the officer’s response in the immediate aftermath. Rather than raising the alarm or alerting his supervisor on the spot, PC Kimutai only made a call after the suspect had already made his escape, a lapse that investigators are now scrutinizing closely.
Once the station commander received the report, he wasted no time deploying a team to track down the stolen weapon. Authorities also moved quickly to detain the three officers who were on gate duty at the time: Cpl Rotich, PC Kimutai, and PC Kiplimo, all of whom remain in custody as the investigation unfolds.
Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in Trans Nzoia West have since taken charge of the case, working to unmask the impostor and recover the missing rifle before it can be used to cause harm.
Source: NairobiWire.com | Read the Full Story…
