Three suspected thugs were lynched to death by an irate mob on Wednesday night after snatching a woman's handbag in Thika's Makongeni area, Kiambu county.

According to a statement from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on Thursday, the triad attacked the woman and started fleeing with a getaway motorcycle towards Thika town.

The woman immediately raised an alarm prompting boda boda riders who were nearby to chase after the thugs.

Amid the chase, the thugs were obstructed by an oncoming matatu which forced them to swerve off the road, causing the driver to lose control and collapsed on the tarmac.

The riders who were in hot pursuit of the thugs caught up and immediately landed a barrage of blows on the trio.

"What followed was a beating the thugs had never experienced in their lifetime as the boda boda riders descended on them with blows and kicks accusing them of soiling their good name by using motorbikes as their gateway means after committing crime," wrote DCI.

DCI added that by the time police officers arrived where the lynching took place, the trio had already been killed.

The bodies were then removed to General Kago hospital morgue awaiting identification by their kin. 

Police also recovered three knives, a mobile phone and the stolen handbag from the suspects.

Meanwhile, DCI has advised members of the public not to take the law into their hands and instead hand over suspects to police authorities to face justice in a court of law.