Police in Kandara, Murang’a county are holding in custody four suspects believed to be behind the theft of cattle which has become rampant in the area.
The four were intercepted by the police officers in the evening of Monday, August 16 after a tip off from the members of the public.
Confirming the arrests, Kandara OCPD Catherine Lingera said the suspects have been sneaking into people’s homes at night and stealing cattle.
Lingera said the trend has been on for quite some time but police had not been successful in nabbing the suspects.
“We acted on a tip off from members of the public and laid a trap for the thieves,” she said.
The suspects, she said, were in a matatu from Dandora in Nairobi which police believe is used to ferry the stolen livestock.
She said they are interrogating the suspects to know where they take the cows after stealing them pointing out that the theft appears to be a well-coordinated crime.
“The first two suspects led us to their accomplice who was hiding the stolen cows in a nearby bush and appeared to be their coordinator” she said.
The OCPD however said they believe the suspects have a point man at the ground who surveys and picks on the animals to be stolen.
“We have information that the mastermind is from this area and if he does not live here he is in Dandora” she added.
The residents whose cows were stolen said they incurred huge losses as they were rely on the livestock for their livelihood.
“I had two dairy cows which were stolen last week each going for Ksh150,000 and am not able to buy another one right now,” John Migwi, one of the residents said.
“Most of us rely on dairy farming. We get some income from selling milk but we have been left with nothing to sustain our livelihood,” Migwi added.
Murang’a County Commissioner Fredrick Ndunga admitted that cattle rustling has thrived in the area but said the security agents are working to curb the practice adding that most of the theft cases have been reported in Gatanga, Kandara and Maragua sub counties.
