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Details have emerged showing how the two missing Indians were abducted on Mombasa Road by members of the now disbanded Special Services Unit (SSU), never to be seen again.

An affidavit filed in court reveals the two Indians and their taxi driver were intercepted on Mombasa Road near Ole Sereni hotel, forced out of the taxi before being bundled into Subaru vehicles bearing GK numbers by members of the disbanded elite squad, before being escorted to Aberdares National Park.

The affidavit was filed by Internal Affairs Unit of the National Police Service yesterday. The investigators also narrate the role played by each of the four police officer implicated in the forceful disappearance of the three persons.

According to the investigators, the four officers were not acting alone but were allegedly taking instructions from “other persons of interest” who remain at large.

Investigations have further revealed the four abducted the two foreigners—identified as Zulfiqar Ahmad Khan and Mohamed Zaid Sami Kidwai—and their taxi driver Nicodemus Mwania before dumping them in the national park of their destination on the night of July 22 and 23.

The two Indians were in the country for business and commercial purposes before their disappearance and had hired the taxi operator to drive them around.

It is alleged the two had jetted into the country in July to be part of President William Ruto’s campaign team.

Damning affidavit

The affidavit filed by Assistant Superintendent of Police Michael Kirui says Mwania’s taxi was forcefully stopped at the Southern Bypass interchange at Ole Sereni by the officers, who were arraigned in court yesterday, and other persons who are still at large.

The four officers are Peter Muthee Gachiku, Francis Muendo Ndonye, John Mwangi Kamau and Joseph Kamau Mbugua.

In the damning affidavit, Kirui says from the time he took over the investigations into the matter, and in the cause of gathering evidence he has faced interference and threats to life from serving public servants including police officers.

The investigating team claims that two police Subaru vehicles were used in the abduction. 

Kirui says at the time of the abduction, the two Indians were being driven home by Mwania using a Toyota Fielder, motor vehicle registration number KCG 335 E.

After the abduction, the taxi was abandoned at the scene and the matter was reported at Akila and Riruta police stations.

According to the affidavit, Gachiku was the operations commander in the planning and execution of the abduction of the three missing persons.

“Preliminary investigations reveal that Ndonye drove one of the Subarus that intercepted the two Indians and their Kenyan driver,” says the investigator in the affidavit.

Preliminary investigations

He further states that Kamau drove the vehicle carrying the three abductees to the Aberdares National park where it is suspected that they were dumped.

Mbugua on his part is believed to have been part of the team that abducted the victims on the fateful night.

“Call data records indicate that Gachiku communicated with the teams before, during and after interception. He was also in communication late in the night with persons of interest who are yet to be identified and he is believed to have been briefing them on the operations,” says Kirui.

Further preliminary investigations indicate that the officer worked in cahoots with other serving police officers and persons in other security agencies.

The investigator fears that if the four are freed, they are likely to interfere with the ongoing investigations and prays that they are detained for 30 days to complete investigations because the officers’ mobile phones are yet to be forensically examined and a report prepared to aid the ongoing investigations.

“The interception of the two Indians and their Kenya driver was a multi-agencies operation between the DCI and other security agencies. Preliminary investigations including their vehicles GPS/ track logs and call data records place the four officers, their vehicles and others actors at the scene of the crime and the possible location where the bodies were dumped,” says Kirui.

He states that a visit to the scene of crime in Aberdares on October 19, 2022, where the bodies of the missing victims are believed to have been dumped yielded no fruits but clothes and other items recovered at the scene and are yet to be subjected to DNA.

Kirui wants the court to order that DNA samples be taken from the four officers for purposes of profiling and comparison with some of the recovered items believed to belong to the victims.

The four officers, through their lawyers led by Danstan Omari vehemently opposed the application saying the IAU has no mandate to file the case against them before Kahawa law courts.

“The application is an illegality as the unit has no legal mandate to file a case against a police office. It is only the office of Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), National Police Service are allowed in law to file cases against police in court,” Omari said.

Omari alleged malice and mischief in the intended ‘court trail’ of the officer’s claims, adding that the case is a witch hunt of his clients.

Mysterious dissapearance

In response, the unit defended its move to file the case against the four officers on grounds that it is leading the investigations team which seeks to uncover the mysterious disappearance of the two Indians who are claimed to be part of the Kenya Kwanza digital campaign team, and contributed immensely to the success of Ruto’s campaign in the 2022 elections.

Chief Magistrate Daina Mochache ordered the four officers to be detained until tomorrow (Wednesday) when she will rule on whether Police Internal Affairs Until (IAU) has mandate to file a case against them.

Upon the disappearance of the Indians and their driver in July, Lawyer Ahmednasir Abdulahi immediately filed a petition in the High Court sitting in Nairobi seeking orders to compel the police to produce the trio in court.

Justice Mugure Thande issued the orders sought by Abdulahi and but the police failed to produce the three persons.

 This prompted the judge to summon former Inspector General of police Hillary Mutyambai to appear in court in person to explain the whereabouts of the persons.

On August 8, 2022, the IG appeared in court and explained before Justice Thande that the three people were not in police custody.