A gun stolen from a police officer was recovered after police in Eldoret arrested a wanted notorious suspect in the town.
He was arrested in an ongoing operation by security teams to tame rising crime in the town that have sparked an outcry and fear among residents.
The arrested suspect identified as Henry Kibet Oroto had been released from prison a few months ago and is linked to the theft of the pistol along with other items from a car belonging to senior a police officer.
The police officer had travelled to Eldoret for official duties with his car on November 2 and packed it in the town to see a friend, but on returning, he found it had been broken into. The gun, a laptop and Sh15,000 had been stolen.
Uasin Gishu CID boss Peter Kimulwo said the suspect was arrested at Kambi Ngurue near Langas.
“We received intelligence reports that some suspicious people were in a rented house and we dispatched our officers to the area,” Kimulwo said.
While near the rental house, the officers met with the suspect who drew a gun and shot three times at officers who managed to duck and return fire.
However the suspect surrendered and dropped the gun leading to his arrest.
Kimulwo said the suspect had given crucial information to help arrest his accomplices who are behind a spate of crime incidents in the region.
“He has given us very crucial information about his accomplices whom we are now going after and we are sure soon they will be in our hands,” he said.
Kimulwo was posted to Uasin Gishu three days ago but admitted that he had received reports on high rates of crime in Eldoret including robberies, house breakages and car theft syndicates.
The DCI boss revealed that within the last one week, four stolen vehicles had been recovered in the town and police were looking for suspects involved.
“The suspects work in gangs and we have profiled them, we are now pursuing them so that we bring them to book,”Kimulwo said.
Kapsoya, Langas, Huruma and Kimumu are just but some of the areas in Eldoret which have recorded increasing crime rates in the recent past.
A resident of Kapsoya estate Paul Kiplagat said it was now risky to move around in Eldoret especially at night due to worsening security.
“Residents of Eldoret have been complaining of attacks in houses within the last two month and we hope police are serious to arrest those involved,” Kiplagat said.
The county DCI boss said they had already taken measures to stop the crime wave in Eldoret. He urged residents to volunteer information that would lead to arrest of criminals.
