A military soldier is nursing a wound in the hand after he was shot by a suspected thug he queried for smoking bhang in public, in Murangá County.
Smoking and possession of bhang is a crime in the country.
Timothy Mwangi, a soldier with the Kenya Defence Forces who was on leave in his Kihoni village told police the incident happened Sunday afternoon.
He said he was walking on a footpath in the village when he met a motorcycle with a rider and a pillion passenger.
" The passenger was smoking bhang which prompted me to ask why he was smoking the drug," Mwangi said.
He said the rider slowed down and the passenger alighted before walking toward him.
The passenger then drew a pistol and pointed it at the soldier prompting him to surrender with his hands raised.
At gunpoint, the gunman grabbed his left hand and shot his palm. The bullet exited through as the soldier went down in pain bleeding.
He said the rider and his pillion rode off leaving him at the scene.
Mwangi said the gunman and his rider did not steal anything from him.
The victim was rushed to Kandara Level Four Hospital where he was attended to and later referred to Thika Level Five where he was admitted, police said.
Police said no arrest has been made so far but efforts to trace the gang are ongoing.
They believe the gang was on a robbery mission and was high on drugs.
Teams of detectives are combing in the area to hunt them down. The teams are going through security cameras in the area as part of efforts to get the gang.
There has been a slight rise in armed crime in the area amid efforts to contain the trend.
