A prison warden at Kamiti and three civilians were arrested on Tuesday night in connection with a kidnapping incident in Kasarani.
This followed a failed attempt to get ransom for a man they had kidnapped, police said.
The gang posed as DCI officers and arrested a man from his shop in Githurai 44. They later demanded Sh50,000 from his mother as ransom.
They bundled the 20-year-old man into their car and drove off as they made the demands.
The mother sent Sh5,000 before she reported to police who started tracing them.
The mother told police she was instructed to transfer the balance to four different mobile phone numbers.
The gang abandoned the victim in Mwihoko area along the Eastern bypass after learning they were being trailed.
They were intercepted along Kamiti Road and a pair of handcuffs recovered from the warden, police said.
Nairobi police boss Augustine Nthumbi said they are investigating to establish if the gang had been involved in similar incidents.
An increase in kidnappings has forced police to form a special squad to address them.
A meeting held by senior police officers last week concluded, kidnapping incidents pose a major threat ahead of the 2022 polls.
They said child abduction is also a major issue but promised a robust solution.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i said the squad had been given special resources to act and solve the problem.
He however downplayed the veracity of the problem terming it a small issue.
“We have agreed that we will deploy special and aggressive resources to deal with this issue. It is a very small matter, as already the DCI has made great strides in tracking these gangs,” he said.
Matiangi said some of the reported issues are out of illegal business dealings which backfire and lead to abductions and killings.
“People get into informal but criminal business arrangements but when they go south they now resort to murdering each other. We are however sorting it,” the CS said.
When the issues get out of hand, parties involved tend to create an impression that police have a challenge in solving it, he added.
The meeting was informed that some of these incidents are linked to human smuggling and trafficking.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)
