Four violent robbery suspects escape cell

Four robbery with violence suspects have escaped from Sagana police station.

Mwea West sub-County police commander Abdillahi Adan said the four broke out at around 3am at dawn on Saturday.

They have been identified as Willis Githuku, Martin Ndung’u, Charles Mwangi and Julius Murigi.

They cut through the grills using a hacksaw.

The four are linked to M-Pesa shop break-ins in Sagana, Murang'a and Kagio.

Police in Kirinyaga County are looking for the suspects who were scheduled to appear in court on Friday.

A local daily reported that detectives had asked the Baricho Law Court to keep the suspects in custody for 14 days as they continued investigating.

Cases of suspects escaping from custody have been widely reported in the past.

In November last year, two suspects held in police cells at Ruiru Police station over robbery with violence escaped.

This was after two other police officers had escorted one of the suspects to the toilet within the station at about 6am.

Both had been charged with robbery with violence and were to be arraigned.

A month later, a suspect in police custody escaped with the Occurrence Book (OB) and handcuffs, stalling operations at a police post in Elgeyo Marakwet County.

The suspect, who police have described as a middle-aged man, escaped from Kimwarer patrol base in Keiyo South constituency.

It is unclear why the suspect disappeared with an OB, which is critical in recording all occurrences in police stations and posts.