AP officers in full combat gear stormed the Mandera police station on Thursay evening, shooting in the air and ‘rescuing’ a jailed colleague.
The officer they freed was identified as Richard Githaka Karanja who was held in a police cell.
He had been arrested three days before in connection with a robbery at a petrol station in which Sh700,000 was stolen. A guard was killed. Karanja was to appear in court on Friday.
The AP officers attached to Kapendo Rapid Deployment Unit camp raided the Mandera police station at 8.30pm.The RDU officers were on foot. They shot in the air and told the officer on duty to hand over the key to the police cell.
Sources said one AP officer demanded the key from the cell’s sentry James Maina, while pointing a G3 rifle at him. The office handed over the key. The RDU group opened the cell and left with Karanja.
No one was injured.
There were 12 people in the cell when the RDU officers stormed the station. The other 11 remained in the cell.
Present during the raid were the OCS, two station guards, the in-charge lines, the report office personnel, the cell’s sentry personnel and the signaller.
After the RDU officers ‘rescued’ their colleague, they fired four rounds in the air and left. They walked towards Kapendo camp, about five kilometres away. They were allegedly shouting that they could not allow “general duty officers” to detain their colleague.
Mandera East deputy county commissioner Lawrence Omondi would not deny or confirm the attack. Omondi, who was in a security meeting, told the Star on the phone that investigations are underway.
On December 8, a night guard was killed. Another guard, who was arrested later, said those who killed his colleague were wearing police uniforms.