Police question Devani over gun drama in city building

Raj Devani (on phone) is arrested by police officers after he broke a padlock using a pistol to gain access to Shimmers Plaza Limited in Nairobi  yesterday. [PHOTO: COLLINS KWEYU/STANDARD]

By CYRUS OMBATI

Police arrested and disarmed a controversial and prominent businessman after he shot and damaged a padlock to enable him access his building in Westlands, Nairobi.

Raj Devani had arrived at his Shimmers Plaza Limited building and only to discover the ownership had changed.

This follows sale of the building by auction over Sh150 million he allegedly owed National Bank of Kenya. Devani, a licensed gun holder, shot once using his pistol to break the padlock used to lock the building, scaring the guards on duty.

He has, however, moved to court to challenge the sale of the property and obtained halting the process.

The buyers, Cape Suppliers Limited, deployed guards at the prime five-storey building last month when most of the tenants were away on holiday.

Mr Devani, through his lawyer Robinson Kigen, rushed to court and obtained orders barring the new owners from taking over the property.

On December 27 last year, Senior Principal Magistrate R Oganyo ordered the Parklands OCS to assist in removing the new guards from the building, but they failed.

Witnesses said when Devani arrived yesterday he shouted at the guards before shooting off the padlock to gain access to the building. It was then that police arrested him and took him to Parklands police station.

They later visited his home in Westlands for a search to establish if he had other guns and ammunition.

Gigiri Division police boss Vitalis Otieno said it was procedural for them to question the businessman because he had misused a firearm.

“Because a gun was used it becomes criminal,” said Otieno. Devani was still being held at the station by time we went to Press.

On Sunday evening, he was involved in another drama while on a flight from Dubai. He and a former politician were briefly detained at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport after attendants of an Emirates flight complained they had caused disturbance. The cause of the in-flight drama was not clear and Devani declined to comment on it.