Akashas in court over New Year's eve gun drama

Drug trafficking suspects from left: Baktash Akasha, Vijygiri Goswami, Gulam Hussein and Ibrahim Akasha during the mention of their Extradition case at Mombasa Court. (Photo: Kelvin Karani/Standard)

Three sons of slain drug baron Ibrahim Abdalla Akasha and an Indian national were yesterday charged in a Mombasa court with fighting in a club on New Year’s eve.

Baktasha Akasha, Ibrahim Akasha, Abdulsalam Kamaldin Akasha and Indian fugitive Vijaygiri Anandgiri Goswami are accused of fighting at Rahjan Bar and Restaurant in Nyali, Mombasa.

The charge sheet alleges that they “fought in public with others not before court” without stating the cause and circumstance of the alleged brawl.

As the four took their pleas yesterday, the police launched a manhunt for Mombasa tycoon Ali Punjani who is said to have been involved in the fight that lasted more than 30 minutes and a shot was fired.

Sources say the fight broke out between Baktash and Punjani’s group on one side and that of Goswami on the other, leaving more than five people injured. A shot was fired, sending other revelers scampering for safety. It is not clear who fired the shot.

At the centre of the dispute, according to police sources, is a Sh150 million deal gone sour.

Both Baktash and Goswami, who sustained head and face injuries, sought treatment and P3 forms from different hospitals in Mombasa before filing assault complaints in different police stations.

Baktash and Punjani were at the Dog Section police station in Kisauni and Goswami went to the Central police station, Mombasa.

But in a strange twist, the two went back to the police stations and withdrew the complaints, saying they would rather solve the matter without involving the police.

But the police think otherwise and have asked the parties involved to surrender their weapons for ballistic testing. Sources told The Standard on Saturday that the police believe the New Year’s Day meeting was a set-up to lure one of the parties to a “death trap” and have launched investigations into the fight.

Police sources say that on October 31, 2016, Goswami coordinated the kidnapping of Shaud Khan, a fellow Indian based in South Africa and demanded a ransom of Sh150 million.

The Standard on Saturday could not verify whether the New Year’s eve fight was related to the October incident. But what has puzzled security agents is that after the fight, two of those involved in the brawl met two senior government officials at a local club for hours. It is not clear why they met, and what their talks centred on.

Two police officers based at Kisauni have been suspended for “failing to take action” on the incident despite their efforts to have the suspects disarmed. Their colleagues feel the action was uncalled for.

“They are being sacrificed for no reason. We know what happens if and when you try to touch those people,” said an officer in the area.

Baktash, his brother Ibrahim, Goswami and Pakistani national Gulam Hussein are battling extradition to the US where they have been indicted on drug trafficking charges by a court in New York. They are out on Sh5 million bond each.

Officials pursuing their extradition say they have been frustrated by the Judiciary, compromised security agencies and politicians in Kenya.

Goswami is guarded by four police officers all the time.