Police officers are looking into the suspicious deaths of four individuals accused of trespassing on a Del Monte pineapple farm by security guards.
Last week, the four were reported missing. Two of them were found dead in a river 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Nairobi on Sunday. The rest were found later.
According to relatives of the victims, some of the bodies displayed traces of trauma that suggested they had been battered.
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Murang'a County Commissioner Patrick Mukuria told AFP that they "are investigating the alleged murders" but did not elaborate.
Del Monte, a fruit and vegetable company based in the United States, said CCTV footage showed the four men attempting to steal pineapples from its field.
The footage "shows no foul play on Del Monte's part and instead shows the thieves running away towards the river, after dropping bags of stolen pineapple, as they tried to run away from security guards," according to a statement.
"Del Monte Kenya is cooperating with Kenyan authorities as they continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the four bodies," it said, adding that autopsies were underway.
"Organised crime, particularly around pineapple theft, is becoming increasingly rampant in the area," Del Monte told the newspaper.
The company, which employs 6,000 workers in Kenya, has previously been accused of abuse and violence.
In July, the British newspaper The Guardian and the non-profit Bureau of Investigative Journalism accused guards at another Del Monte farm of running over two adolescents suspected of stealing pineapples in a joint investigation.
Kenya's lost deputy presidential candidate, Martha Karua, called on police and human rights organizations to intervene in the new fatalities on Tuesday.
