7 escape Bungoma police cell
Western province Deputy police boss Gerald Mbaabu addressing the press at the Bungoma police station after seven detainees escaped yesterday .Photo/JOHN NALIANYA
SEVEN suspected criminals escaped from Bungoma police station in Bungoma county on Thursday night. One of the escapees was later in the night rearrested in Bungoma town. Western provincial police commander Alfred Ombaba said three of the escapees were being held at the station after they were charged. The rest were set to appear in court yesterday charged with robbery, burglary and defilement, Ombaba said yesterday.
The seven reportedly escaped as the officers on duty opened the cells to release a watchman they had arrested earlier. The watchman was released because police found no evidence against him. “We have instituted proper investigations to establish whether the escape was due to negligence of the officers or a collusion between the officers and the prisoners,” said Ombaba who was posted to the station two weeks.
The investigating team under the command of Deputy Western PPO Gerald Mbaabu was yesterday questioning officers at the station and reviewing circumstances leading to the escape. Ombaba said the investigations seek to establish whether there was any commotion between the officers at the station and the escapees or if they just walked out of the station unnoticed. The police chief said investigators had found information that would help in rearresting the suspects.
Meanwhile a gun found missing from the Shikusa prison armoury on Tuesday is yet to be recovered. Ombaba said the prison officers were still scrutinising records to establish when the gun, a Ceska pistol, went missing from the armoury “The prison authorities reported to us the incident on Wednesday after they had been unable to trace the whereabouts of the gun and w are still investigating,” he said. “We are investigating the loss of the gun because it can be dangerous outside there in wrong hands,” he added. Sources within the prison told the Star that the discovery that the gun was missing has thrown prison authorities at the facility in disarray because it is not yet known when the gun went missing, “It was just discovered on Monday that the gun was missing but no one knows when exactly the gun disappeared,” the source said.