Police officers in Bungoma have shot and killed a suspected drug peddler who engaged them in a fight within Bungoma Town.
Police reports indicate that Isaac Ngong'u was shot dead by officers in Mocca, within Mandazini Estate on Saturday, while he was in the process of peddling the illegal substance.
County Director of Criminal Investigations Daniel Muleli said that the officers shot at him after the suspect, armed with a toy pistol and a machete engaged them.
He added that the police recovered 120 rolls of bhang from the suspect, in an operation succeeding a directive on local administrators to suppress drug trade in the area.
“The officers recovered 120 rolls of bhang, a toy pistol and a panga,” said the police boss, who as well noted that the guns used by the police in the killing have been recalled.
Contrary to the claims by the police, John Mutungi, father to the deceased, accused the police of persecuting his son, insisting that he was not a drug dealer but rather a trader.
“They should have arrested him instead of killing him,” said the father who insisted that his son was trading in second-hand clothes in Chebukube Market.
He termed it a well-planned scheme to eliminate his son, calling upon the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) to take over and investigate the matter.
The body is being preserved at the Bungoma County Referral Hospital Mortuary.