India on Monday said that the lack of information surrounding the abduction of two Indians in Kenya is “very disturbing”. The two Indians identified as Zulfikar Ahmad Khan and Mohamed Zaid Sami Kidwai have been missing for three months now, reported The Hindu.
India’s High Commissioner in Nairobi Namgya Khampa met Kenyan President William Samoei Ruto on Monday and requested him to expedite the investigation into the matter. The high commissioner had also met the officials of India’s Ministry of External Affairs on October 23.
On Monday, India said that the case is under active investigation of the Internal Affairs Unit of the Kenyan Police.
“We have noted that several people have been taken into custody in this connection including officials of the recently-abolished Special Service Unit of the Kenyan Police,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said. “The specific circumstances surrounding the abduction and subsequent lack of information is very disturbing. We expect the case will be investigated thoroughly.”
On October 21, Denis Itumbi, the advisor to the Kenyan president, had claimed in a Facebook post that both Khan and Kidwai were killed by the now-defunct Special Service Unit of the Kenyan Police.
The Kenyan government has not confirmed the killings yet.
Itumbi said that Khan and Kidwai were part of the president’s social media team and had helped in his election campaign. He also claimed that CCTV footage showed that the car in which Khan and Kidwai were travelling was stopped by a vehicle belonging to the Special Service Unit and they, along with their cab driver, were dragged away.
In another Facebook post, Itumbi claimed that Khan and Kidwai were attacked because they supported Ruto in his election campaign.
“They killed people whose only mistake was to be our friends,” Ruto wrote. “The evidence is disturbing and overwhelming.”
On August 15, Ruto had won Kenya’s presidential election after beating his rival, Raila Oding.
One of the changes he introduced after taking over was to disband the Special Service Unit which he said was linked to extra-judicial killings, reported The Star. The banned unit, formed in 2019, handled cases of illegal trafficking of firearms, narcotics, violent robberies, hijacks and human trafficking, reported Tuko.
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