Chaos ensued on Thursday when Water Resources Management Authority officials accompanied by police officers raided a factory in Ruiru.
The WARMA officials were on a mission to arrest the owner of the company after area residents complained that it was releasing chemicals into the nearby river.
When the Chinese man, who owns the tissue-paper making industry, was handcuffed he went berserk screaming incoherently.
It was at this moment that he tried to grab a gun in what seemed like he was threatening the life of WARMA boss Joe Mutambo, who led the sting operation.
The Chinese man kept pointing at the handcuffs and at some point he is seen taking a photo via his phone.
Kenyans took to social media to criticise what they termed to be discrimination with some claiming that if the incident involved a Kenyan, it would have ended with a fatality.
Mutambo, who is the Chairman for WARMA, revealed the factory did not have legal documents that relate to water usage.
The suspect was also accused of failing to obtain a permit to use the water from the river.
“Hana permit ya kutoa maji kwa mto, ana obstruct maji (he has no permit to tap water from the river, he is just obstructing the river),” Mutambo added.
The factory was also said to lack sewerage piping and also lacked any capacity to recycle the used water in order to release clean water into the environment.
In the same breath, the WARMA chair sent out a stern warning to other factories that might have not complied with the authorities regulations that their days were numbered.