Boda boda operators disrupted business at Khayega market, Shinyalu, in Kakamega on Thursday after one of them allegedly died in the hands of the police.
The Kakamega–Kisumu road was rendered impassable for the better part of the day as it turned into a battlefield between boda boda operators, wananchi and the police.
Dancan Butiya, the deceased, was arrested on Tuesday and detained in Shinyalu police station over claims his motorbike had hit and killed someone.
Friends said Butiya had given out his motorbike to a friend who used it to ferry a sick person to Mukumu Hospital. The patient died upon reaching the hospital and the motorbike was detained by the health facility.
When Butiya went for his motorbike, police arrested and took him to the station at Shisasari.
Beatrice Shiambula, his mother, visited him in the police cells and found he had collapsed. The police rushed him to Mukumu Mission Hospital where he died on arrival.
Area MCA Farouk Machanjeurged the government to ensure all the police officers at Khayega AP camp and Shisasari police post are transferred.
“We are appealing to the government to launch an investigation into the matter given that the deceased died in the hands of the police officers,” Machanje said.
Butiya has left behind a widow, Imelda Khabukwi, and three children.
