Kirinyaga residents on Tuesday lynched a suspected cattle thief and torched a vehicle believed to have been used in transporting a stolen cow.
The owner of the cow, Njue Gatune, said the animal was stolen from his Kathirathiru village home in Kirinyaga Central at 2am.
He told reporters he was woken up by a distress call by members of the public who claimed that livestock thieves had struck.
“I met the villagers at the road but upon a closer look, I realised the cow was mine,” Gatune said.
He said there has been rampant theft of livestock in the last two months and this is the second attempted theft of his cow. The first was last year when it was stolen but later found its way back home.
Residents, he said, gave chase and as the thieves tried to escape, one of them fell down and was captured by villagers who lynched him after forcing him into the vehicle.
His wife Josephine Njeri said she received a phone call from a neighbour who informed her to alert other villagers there was a strange, unmarked vehicle in their village.
“The neighbour told me the unmarked vehicle had six occupants and they were livestock thieves. I called other neighbours and passed the information to them,” she said.
Assistant chief Kinyua Muriuki said he received a call at 2am and was informed there was an unmarked car hidden somewhere in his sublocation.
The administrator said he alerted the inspector in charge of the Kangaita police patrol base.
But before they arrived to the place, irked members of the public had blocked the road, recovered the cow and forced one of the suspects they had cornered inside the car before torching it.
Other suspects managed to escape.
The administrator said the body was taken to Kerugoya hospital mortuary by the police.
The administrator said livestock thieves steal livestock, slaughter them and then cart away the meat.
“As the area security team, we shall be vigilant and we shall catch up with all those involved in the criminal activities,” he said.
Residents lauded the assistant chief, saying he acted promptly when they made the distressed call, though the angry and impatient residents took law into their own hands before his arrival.