Police are investigating the death of a police officer whose body was found inside a parked vehicle along the Machakos–Kitui road in Mwala, Machakos County.
The incident was reported Tuesday after members of the public alerted traffic officers on patrol about a suspiciously parked vehicle near Kikelenzu junction in Mumoni village.
A team that visited the scene said their colleague may have died by suicide after ingesting a poison. The motive of the incident was not immediately known.
Police officers said the body was found in the driver’s seat of a white Toyota Probox.
Foam was oozing from the his mouth, raising suspicion that he may have ingested a toxic substance.
A search of the vehicle led to the recovery of a bottle top believed to be from a diazinon pesticide container.
Investigators also recovered documents identifying the deceased as Police Constable Raphael Kingo’la Masesi, 37.
The recovered documents included his police identification card and a certificate of appointment indicating that he hailed from Kyatune area in Mutomo.
Police also found transfer documents showing that he had been moved from Mukuyuni police station to Kikumini police post in April this year. There were no visible physical injuries on the body.
Crime scene investigators documented the scene before the vehicle was towed to Masii police station.
The body was taken to Machakos Funeral Home, where it will undergo a post-mortem to establish the exact cause of death.
Police said they are treating the incident as a suspected suicide pending the outcome of the post-mortem.
Suicide is one of the leading causes of deaths in the National Police Service.
