All of the police officers assigned to the Kaptagat Police Station in Elgeyo Marakwet County were transferred, adding to the drama surrounding the killing of a suspected stolen cow.
Douglas Kanja, the Inspector General of Police, gave the order to move the officers out of the station.
A new team will take their place while the ongoing investigations into the saga are completed.
The action is part of an attempt to defuse the tension caused by the cow’s theft and killing in the area.
This came after residents demonstrated outside the station to call for action against the people responsible for the discovery of a slaughtered cow that had been reported missing from the nearby village.
While the incident is still being investigated, two station police officers were taken into custody.
Before seizing the official vehicle used to protest the incident, locals broke into the station and damaged the signposts.
They called for a more thorough investigation of the case, stating that previous cow thefts and disappearances should be looked into with the help of the station’s police.
According to police headquarters, some officers at the station were implicated in a preliminary investigation.
Some of them have been killing cows that have been stolen and found. Later, they sold the meat to nearby butchers in exchange for cash.
The investigation continues despite rumors that action may be imminent.
In the most recent instance, a local person reported that her cow had vanished.
Before word spread that the missing cow had been killed at the local police station, this prompted a search.
On Monday, those who had killed it fled the scene as a crowd gathered outside the station.
When senior police officers and a member of the county assembly learned of the tension there, they hurried to the police station after the mob threatened to burn it down.
Following a quick investigation, the two police officers implicated in the slaughter were taken into custody for grilling.
According to the police, the incident is being looked into.
The team in charge of the case stated that they aim to determine the motivations of the police officers and the connections they have with the stolen cow.
Police urged composure and described the incident as isolated.
Later, a special team was dispatched to the region to conduct additional research and take further action.
With the two officers’ arrests, at least four police officers have been arrested for crimes in four days.
According to the police, the incidents are unique and should not be used to evaluate the service.
A senior police officer was previously taken into custody after it was alleged that he was discovered in Nakuru County, along the Nakuru-Mogotio road, carrying twenty bags of charcoal.
By Newsmedia