• The four officers now join two other civilians who are in custody over the matter.
• For now, police are investigating a crime of abduction and conspiracy to commit a felony.
Four police officers were on Friday detained in the probe into the two missing Indians and their driver in Nairobi.
At least ten other officers from the disbanded Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI’s) Special Service Unit (SSU) have reportedly agreed to be witnesses in the case that is slowly emerging to be a major probe into claims of extra-judicial killings.
Officials said the four were detained in different police stations in the city after a day-long grilling of about 21 officers from the unit.
They had been summoned to the Internal Affairs Unit offices where their colleagues are investigating the saga involving Mohamed Zaid Sami Kidwai, Zulfiqar Ahmad Khan and their driver Nicodemus Mwania Mwange who were abducted near Ole Sereni and driven away in an unmarked car on July 24, 2022.
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 the concluded polls.
The four officers now join two other civilians who are in custody over the matter.
For now, police are investigating a crime of abduction and conspiracy to commit a felony.
But if they find evidence they are likely to prefer murder charges on the officers and their co-accused.
The officers are likely to be produced in court on Monday where the investigators will make a miscellaneous application to detain them further as the probe continues.
The team will wait for a forensic report from dozens of bones, belts and clothes collected from the expansive Aberdare Forest.
More than 100 police officers were deployed to Aberdare Forest in search for the three and after two days they returned with dozens of bones which they believed are human ones, belts and clothes.
They took them for safe custody ahead of a planned DNA sampling to know whose they are.
The move to deploy the officers to the forest came following reports the victims could be there.
The officers spent their Friday night in police cells waiting for further probe after the initial findings pointed an accusing finger at them, officials aware of the developments said.
Those who had been summoned include two Chief Inspectors, an inspector, three sergeants, nine corporals and five constables.
The team was last week disbanded and the officers sent on leave pending further action.
They are among others under probe over the missing of the three persons.
Officials aware of the developments said this is part of a wider probe being conducted over claims of forceful disappearances under the police.
Two vehicles assigned to the disbanded unit have been linked to the disappearance of the three and are under probe.
President William Ruto said he gave the go ahead of the move. He said the unit had been linked to extra judicial killings signaling that there are more changes coming.
“Mimi mwenyewe niliamuru kuvunjwa kwa hicho kikosi sijui Special what (I ordered the disbandment of the unit). Our people were being found murdered and their bodies dumped in River Yala and other places. That is the sort of history we want to forget as a nation,” the President said.
Acting Inspector General of police Noor Gabow gave the directive of disbanding of the unit and ordered the officers report to the DCI.
Gabow has since ordered that all cases of missing persons be urgently addressed by the police.
Police are holding two other men in connection to the missing of the three since July 23.
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.
A magistrate on October 21 refused a plea by the two to be released on bond.
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 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,” said court documents.
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.
The police probe has linked the squad to the disappearance of three men on July 24, 2022. The squad is one of those under DCI and has been credited for solving a number of complicated crimes including robbery, murder, fraud and abduction.
It was revamped from the defunct Special Crimes Prevention Unit and named SSU December 2019 when the then Flying Squad was also disbanded.