A police officer was robbed of his G3 rifle with 20 bullets after he stepped out of his place of work at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), Nairobi.
The victim was arrested to help his colleagues in investigations into the circumstances under which he lost the weapon.
The police constable was with a colleague and was manning the landing zone at the airport when the incident happened on Tuesday, November 12, in the morning.
They were both armed at the time of the incident. It is believed the victim left the place of work and walked out of the compound where he was attacked and robbed of the rife.
He later reported he had lost the weapon prompting an operation in vain.
His colleagues said he does not drink.
He was arrested as a team of detectives embarked on efforts to trace the weapon.
Police fear it can be used in other crimes in the city or elsewhere.
It is believed whoever was
behind the incident, if any, must have planned for it for a while. The officer
was in his official uniform at the time of the incident.
Senior police officers visited
the scene when the report on the same was made.
It comes days after a police officer was shot and injured
before being robbed of his gun in an attack in Samburu County.
The incident happened on Saturday, November 9
evening as police confronted a gang that was loading to transport stolen cows
in a lorry from Moyale to Nairobi, police said.
A team of police officers had intercepted the
Mercedes Benz Actros truck and were escorting it to a local police station when they came under attack.
Police said the officers were attacked in the Mlima Tatu area with the gunmen engaging the
two officers in a fierce shootout.
During the incident, the bandits fired several
rounds, injuring one officer in the left thigh.
They later grabbed his G3 rifle loaded with
about 60 bullets and vanished with it.
The bandits made away with 21 of the 40 animals,
while others strayed into a nearby thicket.
The injured officer was rushed to Archer's Post Hospital for initial treatment in fair condition.
The damaged trailer was escorted to the Sere
Olipi police station for further police action.
Police fear such weapons are dangerous in the hands of criminals.