By MN Reporter
Migori county police have heighten investigations over arson attack at Twiga Dormitory in Tarang’anya High School in Kehancha subcounty.
County police commander Mark Wanjala said on Tuesday evening they arrested three more students over the December 4 at 8:30pm incident and they will be charged in Kehancha High Court where five other students pleaded not guilty earlier on.
“The three include a form four student who was found with a sim card which police believe was used to coordinate the arson attack at the school which gutted down a dormitory,” Wanjala said.
On Tuesday, five students aged between seventeen and twenty years pleaded not guilty when they appeared before Kehancha Senior Principal Magistrate James On’gondo after they were accused of an arson attack contrary to section 332 of the penal code.
The five were accused of setting “fire to Twiga dormitory ground floor and part of first floor valued at Sh2.8 million belonging to Taranganya Boys High School..,” accroding to part of the charge sheet.
The five pleaded not guilty and were released on a Sh300,000 bond with a surety of a similar amount with the magistrate issuing order barring them from accessing the school.
“Offenders are barred from accessing the school and are hereby ordered to stay at least three kilometres from the school premises until otherwise advised by the court or with express permission from the school administration. Failure to obey these orders will see the offenders taken back to custody and an immediate withdrawal of their bond terms,” Ong’ondo noted.
The magistrate further directed that underage suspects be provided by a state lawyer while “others above the age of 18 were required to hire their defense lawyers.”
Police are still doing forensic examination of phones confiscated from one of the teachers and they will arrest more suspects as investigations progress.
Kibito Boino, the investigating officer into the arson case told the press they have released two suspects, a teachers another student on Sh20,00 and Sh10,000 cash bails respectively as investigations was still on.
A teacher and a student were later arrested as prime suspects behind the inferno before five others were later nabbed as investigations went on.
“The teacher and the 19-year- old student are suspected to be behind the fire. Investigations are currently in progress and we have confiscated two mobile phones from the suspects for forensic analysis,” said Kehancha Sub County police commander Cleti Kimaiyo said.
