A cop based at Sagana police station in Kirinyaga county has been arrested in connection with escape of four prisoners on Friday.
Corporal Evans Kimathi was taken in for questioning after it was discovered that he abandoned his rifle and the cells he was manning and disappeared.
When contacted on the phone, the officer said he fell ill and had been admitted at a hospital in Kibingoti area.
Upon investigations however, it was confirmed that the information was false and that the officer was not sick.
The four prisoners are suspected to be notorious for robbery with violence in Sagana town and were being investigated.
Wallace Githuku Muiruri, Julius Murigi Mburu, Martin Ndung'u and Charles Mwangi escaped after cutting the cell ventilation grills with a hacksaw.
The four who were arrested on January 24 in Maragua, Murang’a, and were charged with robbery with violence.
They were yet to take plea as the investigating officer had asked court to grant them more time to conclude investigations.
The magistrate at Baricho law courts had allowed the officer 14 days to detain the four as he conducted investigations.
According to police documents, one officer Adan Dolo, who was also on duty, reported that he opened the cells at around 5.30am when the canteen manager brought breakfast for the prisoners.
Dolo said he discovered that four out of the five prisoners who had been detained at the cells had escaped.
The four were to be presented in court on the morning of Valentine’s Day.
Police are hunting for the prisoners.
