This archive report was first published on 8 October 2019.
On October 8, 2019, Lamu County residents were shocked to learn that a police officer who had been reported missing was found dead in a forest.
Police Constable Hesbon Okemwa Anunda, a renowned anti-narcotics officer in Lamu, was discovered with his body badly mutilated.
According to Lamu County Commissioner Irungu Macharia, the officer's head and left hand had been chopped off, and the rest of the body had deep cuts.
‘We found his body after members of the public volunteered information … It's horrible what happened to him, very inhumane,’ Macharia said.
Police believe that the officer's gruesome death could be a retaliatory attack by drug dealers for his battle against narcotics in Lamu.
‘The Lone Ranger would pursue cases some of us wouldn’t. He would go on an operation alone and succeed. He was that good,’ an officer reportedly told the Star in confidence.
Police are tracing the officer's call logs to identify those who spoke to him in the hours before his death.
County police commander Muchangi Kioi vowed to ensure that those involved in the killing face the wrath of the law.
