Police have arrested 12 Form Three students linked to a suspected arson attack that destroyed a three-storey dormitory at Maranda High School on Sunday evening.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

The  students were arrested while attempting to flee the scene shortly after the fire, before being handed over to school administration and later taken into police custody at Bondo Police Station.

Bondo Sub-County Police Commandant Robert Aboki said detectives recovered CCTV footage from two petrol stations in Bondo town, allegedly showing six students buying fuel used in the attack incident that ravaged the three-storey Owino B dormitory.

The police alleged the plan was hatched on Saturday during a sports event where students raised Ksh2,500 and sneaked out of the school compound to purchase fuel.

📌 What You Need to Know

They are said to have smuggled petrol into the school through a fence and hidden it in a dustbin before carrying out the attack on Sunday evening.

Police said six alleged buyers were joined by six accomplices who wore hoods and masks before lining corridors with mattresses and blankets soaked in petrol during the attack phase inside the dormitory.

They allegedly drenched the materials with petrol and set them ablaze before fleeing the scene shortly after tea break, leaving students and staff in shock and panic, according to police.

Investigators later recovered discarded masks and clothing in school toilets where suspects were believed to have hidden after the incident, as searches continued across the compound following the fire outbreak on Sunday.

Although the fire was contained before spreading through the entire block, the school reported loss of personal items worth thousands belonging to Form Four and Grade Ten students.

The 12 suspects are expected to be arraigned in court on Tuesday to face arson-related charges after a Bondo court granted police temporary custody for the ongoing probe into the incident.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke