Police in Nakuru are holding 18 young men, including minors, suspected to be part of a criminal gang that has been terrorising residents of Rhonda and its environment.
County Police Commander Samuel Ndanyi, also confirmed that the police were in pursuit of a woman said to be harbouring the young men.
Ndanyi said, the police acting on a tip from members of the public raided the home of one Salome Nafula, in Rhonda, and arrested the youths, who were armed and preparing to commit various crimes around the Nakuru West Subcounty.
“We planned the night raid that nabbed 16 suspects that were harbouring in a house, armed and ready to commit various crimes. Eight of them were underaged children including primary and secondary school-going children.
“The woman is still at large but we are urging her to surrender to the police to ease the investigations,” added Ndanyi.
Ndanyi noted that two pistols, 33 rolls of bhang and an improvised rolling flag that is used to roll bhang were recovered during the raid
“We also confiscated four phones used in their operations. Four kitchen knives, a Somali sword, and 300 grams of bhang were also recovered in the operations,” added Ndanyi.
He lauded the members of the public for the prompt information that led to the arrest of the youths suspected to be part of the Mauki gang, adding that the suspect
“They are young men aged between 14 and 21, yet they are very dangerous and their actions are detrimental to the safety of the public,” regretted the police boss noting that they will be arraigned in court to answer to various criminal charges.
Nakuru West Constituency has been cited to be a hub of criminal activities in the recent past, with security agents working round the clock to clear the groups.
Interior CS Kithure Kindiki, who visited the County security team last month, put on notice the criminal gangs terrorising the residents, that they will be cleared.
Dennis Rasto
