Police Officers in Kitale have gunned down two thugs and recovered an AK 47 rifle with 29 rounds of ammunition. The thugs were ambushed after getting a tip off from members of the public over their intended raid at a petrol station.

Confirming the incident Kitale Police Boss Lucas Ogara said that the two were killed at Sibanga Center in Cherangani Constituency in the weekend after the CID Officers who were tracking their movements accosted them in the middle of their robbing spree at a petrol station at the center.

"We received information that the thugs who were in a group of four had planned to raid the center and thus our CID Officers laid an ambush that managed to nab the two who were killed on the spot as the two others flew," Ogara said.

He said that the gangsters had just entered the station and robbed the pump attendant some cash before the police moved in fast and opened fire after the gangster who was in possession of the rifle fired at the officers hence prompting the shoot out that led to the death of the two.

The police boss however noted that the two escapees were being sought and police have leading information about their whereabouts and shall soon bring them to book.

He appreciated the ongoing willingness of members of public to offer vital information about the criminals and their plans to execute crime in the area that has since yielded fruits citing this Sibanga case and a previous incident where two suspects were arrested in a hotel room within the town with two hand grenades.

Ogara has thus appealed to the residents to keep up the spirit to work jointly with the security agents to fight crime in the area promising to treat all the information offered to the police with a lot of confidentiality.

He said the information by members of the public has been so crucial in the two incidents whereby if the crimes could have been executed the damage could have been deadly.

The officer cited the Sibanga recovery where he noted that the 29 rounds of ammunition out of 30 that were found in one magazine could have caused a lot of damage bearing in mind that the gangsters always use them sparingly in their attacks.

Murder suspect released on bond

Elsewhere at the Kitale High Court, a man suspected to have murdered his woman lover was today released on bond by Kitale judge Joseph Karanja.

Samson Njoroge Kamau who is accused of murdering Alice Wangui in Kibomet estate and dumping her body in a well in his compound was today released on a bond of KSh.500, 000 with a surety of the same amount at the Kitale High Court.

Njoroge who worked at a leading bank within Kitale town is said to have committed the incident between May 9 this year when the deceased went missing and May 14 when the body was recovered from the well in his compound.

He is said to have committed the crime contrary to section 203 as read with section 204 of the penal code. The case will be heard on November 26 this year.