•Witnesses said the two officers arrived on a motorcycle, entered the shop and then engaged in a confrontation with the attendant.
•He screamed for help, saying he was being attacked by thieves, prompting the mob to rush there and attacked them.
Image: The Star
Police are investigating an incident in which a mob killed two police officers at Kanthanje market in Igambang'ombe, Tharaka Nithi on Saturday evening.
Witnesses said the two were not in uniform at the time of the incident.
Igambang'ombe Deputy County Commissioner Julius Arap Too said they are investigating the incident as he termed mob lynching criminal and vowed to get those involved.
Locals said the victims are officers from Kathwana police station.
They reportedly went to an M-Pesa shop at the market to arrest the operator when a commotion ensued, officials said.
It was then a group at the market attacked the men, stoning and beating them to death.
Witnesses said the shop attendant sustained head injuries suspected to have been inflicted by a sharp object and was taken to St Orsola Hospital, Materi.
Igambang'ombe Sub-County Police Commander Charles Muchiri said they were not able to immediately establish what transpired before the two people died at the scene.
Witnesses said the two officers arrived on a motorcycle, entered the shop and then engaged in a confrontation with the attendant.
He screamed for help, saying he was being attacked by thieves, prompting the mob to rush there and attacked them.
The incident comes barely a week after an officer attached to the Mukothima police post in Tharaka North Sub-County shot and injured a bar operator at Mukothima market following a confrontation.
The victim was taken to a hospital in the neighbouring Meru County.
Three weeks ago, Tharaka Nithi County Bodaboda Operators' Association Chairman Willis Mugambi was shot dead, reportedly by a police officer, during demonstrations in Chuka town.
In 2020, a chief and the Chuka police station commander were hacked to death.
Police term mob lynching a criminal act and want suspects to be surrendered for prosecution.
Cases of mob lynching have been on the rise in the past months which security experts say is a sign of a lack of trust in the security apparatus at large.