Embu traders fed up with burglars taking advantage of the curfew lynched a suspect they caught.
The traders have reportedly been secretly watching over their premises following a spate of break-ins by thugs.
On Sunday night during a heavy downpour, some suspects tried to break into a shop near the market. Traders and guards keeping watch caught one of them and slashed him with pangas to death.
Traders, who talked to the press, said expensive properties were being lost to thieves taking advantage of the curfew. They stage their raids after making sure police enforcing the curfew are away and no one is walking around after 7pm.
They said they decided to protect their property and deal ruthlessly with anybody they caught.
The vigilantes tried to burn the body of the suspect with an old tyre but failed. They left the body on the spot. Police took it to Embu Level 5 Teaching and Referral Hospital mortuary.
Embu West subcounty police boss Charles Kinyua confirmed the incident.
He said they were investigating to ascertain how the man met his death.
“We are investigating to find out what really happened,” Kinyua said.
The incident came a week after several shops were broken into in Embu town and other areas of the county by gangsters exploiting the curfew and heavy rains.
The suspected gangsters were arrested with assorted goods which are believed to have been stolen including four TV sets, clothes, shoes, alcohol, empty bottles, and hospital items stolen from a dispensary.
Embu county police commander Daniel Rukunga said most of items were stolen on the night of April 14- 15 when burglars broke into several shops, a bar and pork butchery.
Edited by Henry Makori
