Three General Service Unit (GSU) police officers were on Wednesday arraigned at in court for kidnapping a Chinese national in Mlolongo, Machakos County.
According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) the suspects were arrested a week after the incident, before their arraignment at a Machakos court where detectives sought custodial orders to finalize investigations as manhunt for the kidnapping mastermind continues.
The three suspects; PC Fredrick Mwongela Mwololo, PC Samuel Mwiti and PC Kimwele Musyoki all attached to the General Service Unit allegedly committed the crime on 8th January, 2024.
The DCI revealed that the victim was kidnapped on his way to work, where two cars blocked his vehicle before the suspects cuffed him and sped off towards Machakos.
“After hours of disappearance, concerned friends reported to the DCI of the businessman who never arrived at his workplace as expected, where detectives forensically traced him to Mua Hills in Machakos,” says the DCI.
After rather investigations detectives established that five men including a Chinese national (the mastermind), a taxi driver and the three police officers executed the kidnapping and upon arriving at the Mua Hills, the mastermind called the victim’s family back in China demanding for an unestablished amount of ransom which was wired to a bank account in China.
However, the victim later turned up at Athi River and narrated his ordeal in the hands of the kidnappers who also robbed him violently.
“After money was deposited, the gang’s accomplices in China confirmed that the family had complied, and the victim was released. Swinging into action, DCI’s Crime Research and Intelligence detectives initiated a systematic probe into the abduction right from Mombasa Rd, where two vehicles, a taxi Reg no. KDL 070P and another KAN car were picked as vehicles of interest,” said the DCI.
On Friday, detectives traced the taxi to Rongai and arrested the owner.
He however informed the police that on the day in question, a friend of his had borrowed his car when the incident occurred.
Investigations later revealed that one of the suspects was a former staff at the victim’s company, and had been in constant communication with the arrested officers.
Interpol operations have been launched to pursue the gang’s accomplices in China even as the search for the mastermind in the kidnapping continues.
