A Mombasa Court on Monday allowed the police to detain 17 youth suspected to be members of criminal gangs that have been terrorizing residents in the county.
Judge Irene Ruguru made the ruling to detain the suspects following an application by Investigation officer Safari Chea, seeking more time to compete their investigations.
Officer Chea told the court that the officers need more time to establish if the suspects are members of the criminal gangs that have been robbing and harassing Mombasa residents.
In the application to have the suspects detained, the officer added that the accused persons have information that may assist police in their investigations.
The accused persons through their lawyer, Mr Jared Magolo, opposed the application to be detained saying it was against the constitution.
Judge Ruguru in his ruling gave the police five days to complete their investigations and ordered for the accused to be detained at Makupa Police station.
The case will be heard on April 22.
The suspects were arrested on Saturday night after police officers conducted raids in different areas including Majengo, Buxton, Sabasaba and Tononoka.
The suspects who are aged between the ages of 12-26 were allegedly found in possession of pangas, Machetes, several rolls of bhang and stolen identity cards.