A suspected Miraa thief at Laare in Igembe North, Meru County was on Monday lynched by furious residents while his colleague is nursing critical injuries after jumping into a 40-feet pit latrine while escaping.

Confirming the incident, area station OCS Ezra Sambu said the deceased David Ntomiaka was murdered by unknown people after he was caught stealing Miraa in the area.

“We found his body lying along the road with serious panga cuts and somebody parts chopped off after carrying out primary investigation we discovered that the 30-year-old man is a renown criminal and a suspected Miraa thief for many years,” said Sambu.

The officer further added that on the fateful day, they rescued Timothy Kithinji (20 years old) from a pit latrine three(3) kilometers from Laare town after he threw himself into the pit to evade the mob that was baying for his blood.

Kithinji is admitted at Maua Methodist Hospital in critical condition. Three months ago he was chopped off his ears after he was found in the possession of stolen miraa.

“We acted swiftly when we got the report that a man has jumped into a toilet and rescued him from the crowd that was armed with sharp pangas. We took him to hospital in critical condition,” added the OCS.

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According to eyewitnesses, the 25-year-old man who had escaped death by a whisker three months ago was found at dawn in a neighbour’s shamba at Kathelwa harvesting the crop.

“This young man has been giving us trouble stealing Miraa. A few months ago, his ears were chopped off as a warning but yesterday was his day because a trap was laid for him,” said a resident who declined to be named.

The police said many residents have lost their body parts following isues of miraa theft.

The police urged the locals not to take the law into their hands. The OCS accused locals of impatience in the law process.

“People here lack patience. They claim that they don’t have time to wait for the criminal to be charged and convicted in a court of law and that is why they act unlawfully to the suspects,” added Sambu.

According to Nyambene Miraa Association leader Sokiyio Munyuri, many people have lost their lives while others lost their body parts following attacks on Miraa related issues.

Igembe region being the highest producer of the commodity that fetches more than Sh 50 million daily has also been on the spot over a high rate of murders and school drop outs.