Tension remained high in Kitutu Chache North Constituency, Kisii County on Saturday after a suspect died while in police custody in unclear circumstances.
The deceased had been charged and convicted and was being held at Rioma Police Station awaiting to be transferred to a prison facility, after he failed to raise a Sh8,000 fine for flouting Covid-19 rules, officials said.
He died in police cells in unclear circumstances prompting a fierce confrontation between locals and police.
Police said he collapsed and died while in custody but was confirmed dead at a local hospital on Saturday. But locals claimed he died out of injuries he sustained out of police bearings.
News of his death prompted fierce confrontation on Saturday evening, with residents pelting stones to station.
Police fired in the air in a bid to scare the rowdy group. One person is said to have sustained a gunshot injury during the running battles.
Local police had late in the night called for reinforcements fearing more attacks from locals. More anti riot police arrived there in readiness for any chaos.
A postmortem on the body is planned on Monday as part of the probe to his death.
