Eight robbery with violence suspects are on the loose after escaping from police custody at Thika police station, Kiambu County.
In an ingenious plot hatched by the capital offenders, one of the remandees feigned sickness claiming to have diarrhoea, as a result of bowel infection, police said.
According to the cell sentry who was on duty, the rest of the remandees pleaded with him to accompany their accomplice to the lavatory, before he soiled the entire cell on Wednesday night.
Little did the officer know that his prisoners had hatched a plot to escape from custody.
No sooner had he opened the door than the nine escapees attacked him with blows and kicks, before forcibly taking away keys to the main door leading to the cells.
Livingstone Njau, Francis Matheri, Allan Mugai, Charles Mitaru, John Murege, Eric Ngigi, Arthur Kayemba and Bunton Mbugua all escaped in the 10 pm incident.
The 9th prisoner Joseph Nyaguthii was, however, rearrested approximately 500 metres from the station, as the rest escaped under the cover of darkness.
How the eight out of the nine capital offenders walked to freedom in a highly guarded facility is what detectives based in Thika are currently trying to establish, not ruling out the possibility of an inside job.
The capital offenders all with pending robbery with violence cases were being held at the station, pending a court appearance.
Meanwhile, the cell sentry who was attacked by the fleeing thugs is currently in custody at the same police station, assisting detectives with investigations.
A major hunt was launched in the area in vain. A team of detectives has been mobilized to look for the group.
