NAIROBI, March 29, 2008 (AFP) - A man was beheaded in central Kenya by members of the Mungiki sect, a shadowy group blamed for a string of crimes in the country, police said Saturday.

The Kenyan man's remains were found early Saturday in the central town of Thika, northeast of the capital Nairobi, said local police commander Patrick Mwakio.

The incident occurred a day after police arrested 14 members of the banned sect linked to a string of murders and beheadings. The suspects were seized while taking an oath in a house in the Rift Valley provincial capital of Nakuru.

Once a religious group of dreadlocked youths who embraced traditional rituals, authorities say the Mungiki sect has morphed into a ruthless gang blamed for criminal activities including extortion and murder.

Since March, the sect has been blamed for murdering at least 42 people, with 14 of them beheaded, mainly in Nairobi slums and central Kenya.

Police have responded with a heavy-handed crackdown on the sect, killing scores of Mungiki adherents.