Families fear the worst as Kenyan rogue cops, information freeze cloud Zulfiqar, Sami saga

On July 20 and 21, Zulfiqar Khan’s Instagram profile had images of him in Kenya, including a post tagged as “magical mornings in the Masai Maara”. That was the last time his family and friends heard from him.

On July 20 and 21, Zulfiqar Khan’s Instagram profile had images of him in Kenya, including a post tagged as “magical mornings in the Masai Maara”. That was the last time his family and friends heard from him.

Zulfiqar Khan

Three months later, hope may be dwindling for two Indians missing in Kenya for the past three months, with authorities of the east African country launching an investigation, and announcing the arrest of six people — including four policemen of the Special Services Unit, which was disbanded by President William Ruto when he came to power in September following allegations of extrajudicial abductions and killings.

Forty-eight-year-old Zulfiqar, a resident of Mumbai and the former Chief Operations Officer at Balaji Telefims, and Mohammad Zaid Sami, went missing from the Ole Sereni area in Kenya on July 21 along with their taxi driver Nicodemus Mwange, where Khan’s family said they were on vacation. India’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday that the government is in touch with the Kenyan President and has requested that the investigation be expedited. Both countries have, however, categorised the two Indians as “missing”.

The Nation, one of Kenya’s leading news agencies, has reported that an affidavit was filed on Monday at the Kahawa Law Courts detailing “how the two Indians and their Kenyan taxi driver were trailed, abducted and killed inside the Aberdare forest by a four man squad from the now disbanded Special Service Unit of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations(DCI).” HT could not independently verify the authenticity of this report.

An official statement issued on Monday by the Kenyan office of the director of public prosecutions said that an inspector general of police had launched an inquiry and will submit a report as soon as possible. The statement referred to Khan and Sami as missing.

The Kenyan authorities have confirmed that on October 6, the Kenyan police arrested two men, Edward Wanjiku and Fabian Mjomba, who were remanded to custody for 21 days. On October 21, police arrested four former police officers: chief inspector Peter Gachiku, sergeant Francis Ndonye, corporal John Kamau, and corporal Joseph Mbugua, all of whom were previously attached to the Special Services Unit (SSU), the Kenyan government’s statement read. The arrest of the four former SSU cops by the internal affairs unit of the Kenya police, however, has been challenged in court on issues of jurisdiction. A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.

“Recognising the complexity of the matter, the ODPP, National Police Service and the Internal Affairs Unit continue to collaborate and coordinate to ensure comprehensive investigations into this matter,” Noordin M Haji, Director of Public Prosecutions, Kenya said in the statement.

On Monday, the Union external affairs ministry said that the Indian high commissioner in Nairobi had called on President William Ruto to convey “deep concern and request an expedition of investigations”.

“The High Commissioner of Kenya in New Delhi was also called into the Ministry on October 23 to convey our concerns in the matter,” the MEA’s statement said.

“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. The specific circumstances surrounding the abduction and subsequent lack of information is very disturbing. We expect that the case will be investigated thoroughly,” the ministry added.

Khan’s friends and family members have expressed some relief that there were concrete statements from governments of both countries after three months, but they remain concerned. Asked about the concerning news reports from Kenya, a family member who did not wish to be named said that they had been asked to expect another statement from the Indian government soon. “We will only be comfortable commenting on the matter after that happens,” the relative of Khan said.

SSU, which has been in existence for more than two decades, was disbanded when President Ruto came to power in September, in the wake of a trail of allegations of extrajudicial activities, including kidnap and torture. “We have disbanded the unit that was killing Kenyans arbitrarily,” Ruto said on October 16.

Khan, an avid traveller who had stepped down from his post at Balaji telefilms in May, left Mumbai for Kenya in May, telling his family and friends that he would return on July 24. Not much is known about Sami, however, with Khan’s family saying they didn’t know about him.

On October 20, Dennis Itumbi, a digital strategist who worked on Ruto’s election campaign, wrote a social media post that sparked off speculation of Khan and Sami’s death. Itumbi claimed that Khan was part of the team working on Ruto’s election campaign. The family however have rejected these claims outright, maintaining that he had gone to Kenya on a holiday.

“He told us about attending a party in Kenya, along with some other Indian nationals. He left late at night with one of them in a taxi driven by a local. The next morning, the vehicle was found with all its doors open, its engine still running. There was no sign of the occupants,” Aquil Hussain, Khan’s relative, who is helping to trace him, on behalf of his brother and two sisters, told HT on October 14.

Khan’s family first information from Kenya came after well-known Kenyan advocate Ahmednasir Abdullahi got in touch with them. Abdullahi filed a writ petition in the Kenyan court seeking investigation in July, soon after the missing Kenyan taxi driver’s family filed a police complaint. Until then, Khan’s family had no news; their WhatsApp messages to him not being delivered.

On October 14, speaking to HT, Abdullahi said, “We filed a habeas corpus petition, seeking that the missing persons be produced before the court, dead or alive, but the police have ignored it. We wrote to the local Indian High Commissioner and copied our letter to New Delhi, but both were not helpful.”

Abdullahi did not respond to HT’s emails on Tuesday.

“We enjoyed watching his social media posts of breathtaking Masai Mara and all the amazing food he was enjoying. He told his friends on the phone that he was returning on July 24, but would be back towards the end of the year to witness the Great Migration across the Mara River. He spoke about the wildlife at length and advised everyone to visit the lovely place. And then Zulfi just disappeared,” Hussain recalled.