By Cyrus Ombati
Police smashed a kidnap ring in Kayole area, Nairobi, rescued a minor and arrested an aunt to a six year old girl who had been kidnapped from a church.
The five suspects were arrested by a police squad that was formed to trace the girl after she was kidnapped from Mavuno Church in South C, Nairobi by unknown people on September 30, 2012.
They had been demanding money as ransom before they could release her and later threatened to kill or harm the girl if the family involved police.
Detectives handling the case said investigations have shown the woman was involved in organizing the ordeal.
Police had been pursuing the case for more than a week as the kidnappers kept shifting their bases with the girl before they were finally arrested on Monday.
Makadara CID boss Zack Nanguli said they expect to charge the suspects today (Wednesday) with kidnaping and other charges.
“They had initially demanded Sh100,000 to facilitate feeding of the girl but we are happy that we have all those who were involved,” said Nanguli.
Witnesses told police the girl had been playing with other children when a man approached claiming she had been called by her mother only to kidnap her.
The arrests came as police continued with the hunt on men who kidnapped and killed a house designer in Kasarani area, Nairobi.
And detectives have since learnt that kidnappers and other criminals are using lost and stolen identification documents to register for money transfer services or mobile phones.
This emerged as police who are pursuing the criminals who kidnapped and killed Mr Emanuel Nderu
The body of Mr Emanuel Nderu was discovered in Ruiru, near Clayworks area by police who had been alerted by passerby and later taken to the City Mortuary days after his kidnap.
This was several days after Nderu who worked as an interior designer had been kidnapped from a church in the area where he was attending.
Police say Nderu was called unknown people who told him they had a message for him. And when he went to check on the callers, he was abducted and bundled into a car, which drove away.
Investigations have shown the family of Nderu decided not to involve police in tracking down the kidnappers. The family is said to have sent substantial amount of money to the kidnappers as ransom in efforts to release him in vain.
And as police pursued the killers, they realized part of those who received the ransom used stolen documents to register for various services.
Part of the gang behind the incident has been traced to Kamiti Maximum Prisons where they are leading it from.
Commissioner of prisons Isaiah Osugo said they are co-operating with police in efforts to unearth the gang if it is operating from Kamiti.
“If they are there, we will know and work on them accordingly but for now, we are helping police in all ways,” said Osugo.
The squad formed is drawn from various crack police units and they say they are making good progress. Cases of kidnapping had gone down in the past years due to persistent police action.
