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Senior officers attached to the disbanded elite Special Services Unit (SSU) of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) were yesterday grilled over the July 25 abduction and disappearance of two Indian IT specialists.

The officers had earlier been directed to surrender two of the unit’s vehicles and firearms and leave office, awaiting redeployment.

The three are yet to be traced with reports that the foreigners were carrying a lot of cash which the officers also took away.

“We have so far identified about 12 officers led by three senior officers who we believe were involved in the abduction. We have also identified and detained three SSU patrol vehicles,” a senior officer said.

The investigations are being conducted by the Internal Affairs Unit (IAU), an auxiliary police service tasked with oversighting the police.

Sources told People Daily that though the probe was about the abduction of Mohamed Zaid Sami Kidwai, Zulfiqar Ahmed Khan and their driver Nicodemus Mwania near the Ole Sereni area in July, all officers had been summoned for grilling over other suspected cases of extrajudicial killings.

The initial probe was prompted by reports that some senior officers were involved or sanctioned the abductions, and later tried to interfere with investigations.

“All the officers will be grilled. Preliminary reports indicate that senior officers of the unit participated directly or indirectly,” a senior police officer said.

The grilling began on Saturday and the final group is expected to record their statements tomorrow.

“Depending on the findings, we will decide which officers will be charged in court. Three vehicles from the unit have been detained and the crews grilled. One of the vehicles was under the command of an officer of the rank of a Chief Inspector,” he added.

The IAU took over the investigations following reports of interference by some senior DCI officers, and the acting Inspector General Noor Gabow on September 15 directed that the IAU take over the investigations.

Investigation team

The new DCI boss Mohammed Amin, then the IAU director, led the investigations and took over the inquiry file from Langata DCI officers.

The IAU investigation team has grilled several detectives and a woman working with an insurance company based in Upper Hill, Nairobi. The woman confirmed that she had given one of the vehicles used in the operation to her boyfriend who works with one of the state security agencies but did not know what they were going to do with the car.

Detectives obtained details of the vehicle that was used in the alleged abduction, assessed CCTV cameras from the scene of the abduction.

Among the suspects arrested include Edward Kamau and Fabian Mjomba Koshn. They were arrested on suspicion a car they co-own was used as a getaway vehicle to take away the three. They had a car hire business in South B.

The team suspected to have abducted the foreigners is also said to have also attempted to abduct a senior United Democratic Alliance (UDA) official at Bomas of Kenya during the tallying of votes, according to other sources.

The SSU has in the past been complemented for busting serious crimes. However, in August 2020, some of the officers attached to the unit were arrested after they were found to have travelled to Matuu to extort money.

 The Unit, formerly known as the Special Crime Prevention Unit (SCPU), was formed after the Kinoti disbanded the dreaded Flying Squad Unit and at the same time scaled down to a smaller unit the SCPU, and renamed it SSU.