- Their car was blocked and armed men picked them up before vanishing.
- Their car was found at the scene.
Image: The Star
Police are holding two men in connection to the missing of two Indian bloggers and their driver since July 23.
Mohamed Zaid Sami Kidwai, Zulfiqar Ahmed Khan and their driver Nicodemus Mwania Mwange were abducted near Ole Sereni and driven away in an unmarked car.
Their car was blocked and armed men picked them up before vanishing.
Their car was found at the scene.
Police investigating the case arrested and produced Edward Kamau and Fabian Mjomba Koshn in court.
They were granted 21 days to detain them as they investigate the matter.
The two 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.
They told police they are ICT experts who worked for two different companies.
In court, police said their car was placed at the scene where the three were abducted.
This was through a review of CCTV footage.
The investigators also said the two and others may be connected to the offence and that they could be government officials and associated with state officials.
Further, the police said they believe the two worked in cahoots with serving police officers and asked the court not to free them as this is likely to interfere with ongoing investigations.
“From the time the applicant took over investigations, and in the course of gathering evidence, it has faced interference from serving public servants including police officers,” says the court documents.
To date, the papers say the whereabouts of the victims are not known but efforts to trace them are in progress.
The investigators say the investigation is complex and requires more time and collaboration with other government agencies including India where Sami and Khan hail from.
The court granted the police 21 days on October 7 to hold the two as investigations go on.
For now, police are investigating a crime of abduction and conspiracy to commit a felony.
The team has filed preliminary reports as investigations go on.
When the two suspects were arrested from their houses police raided there and took away the car in question and other personal items.
Internal Affairs Unit of the National Police Service took over the probe into the case on September 15.
The families of the victims say they believe state agents were behind the incident. Police denied the claims.
Lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi said the three were abducted because they supported President William Ruto.
He moved to court through the family and justice Hedwig Ong’udi on July 28 ordered that the three missing persons be produced in court.
The judge then ordered that the case be mentioned on August 4. But the missing persons were not produced as ordered.
Preliminary findings show the men may have been picked up and driven to Eldoret for an unknown mission.
Their mobile phones were last picked up in Eldoret two days after the incident.
The two Indians are said to have been part of a team that had come to Kenya to join an IT team for Ruto to run the election campaigns.
In Kenya, a person is presumed dead if they have been missing for seven years.
The incident should have been reported at a police station and logged in the station’s occurrence book.
Section 118A of the Evidence Act says, where it is proved that a person has not been heard of or seen for seven years by those who might be expected to have heard of him if he was alive, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that he is dead.
The legal declaration is made by the High Court, despite the absence of direct proof of death.
The declaration then prompts the registrar of persons to issue a death certificate to the family.
There is no national database for missing persons in Kenya. However, each police station keeps a register of those who have vanished in their jurisdiction.
Sometimes missing persons may never be found due to kidnappings, drowning or hit-and-run accidents
Edited by Kiilu Damaris