A suspected livestock thief was burnt to death after he was found transporting a stolen animal at Land Nyuki village in Lumakanda location, Lugari Sub County.
The suspect was spotted by a resident at Igunga village in Lugari sub location entering Lugari forest with the animal at about 10pm on Saturday night before the resident alerted members of the community policing from Lumama and Munyuki villages who with help of youths from the area laid an ambush on village paths.
At about midnight the suspect was found surveying the road in Land Nyuki village after tying the cow in a thicket near Lumakanda stream across in Lumama village.
He was confronted by the youths who were monitoring his movements before he ran and disappeared into a Sugarcane plantation. He later resurfaced at about 2am and when confronted for a second time he fled into a maize plantation as the youths ran after him and managed to arrest him.
On questioning him, he claimed that he was on his way back home after visiting his lover whom he only identified as Evelyn but couldn’t give more information about her.
The group assaulted him with all sorts of crude weapons before he confessed to be a member of livestock theft syndicated and named some of his colleagues, disclosing that he had received the animal from one of his accomplices from Lunyu in the neighbouring Bungoma County and was taking it to a butchery at Kipkaren.
The suspect, who was found with a list of names and contacts of his accomplices as well as a list of the stolen animals with their expected selling price, had an identity card suspected not to be his with the name Lunginus Nyongesa Masinde from Bungoma south. His mobile phone was also taken and handed to police.
His pleas for forgiveness landed on deaf ears as the irate mob went ahead to lynch him beyond recognition after dousing him with petrol.
Police officers from Lumakanda Station arrived at the scene and removed the remains and transferred it to Webuye mortuary.
Lumakanda Location Chief Mr. Jeremiah Simiyu confirmed the incident.
He, however, warned locals against taking the law into their hands whenever such criminal activities occurred in the area, “They should instead hand such suspects to security agencies in order to pave room for the due process of the law,” urged the local administrator.
