New Delhi: The disappearance of two Indian nationals in Kenya may be a case of abduction for their support of re-elected President William Ruto, the local media has reported.
The Indian government has already taken up the issue with Kenyan authorities and has sought an investigation into the matter, ThePrint has learnt. However, New Delhi is yet to get a response from Nairobi, officials said.
Former media executive Zulfiqar Ahmed Khan, fellow Indian Mohammad Zaid Sami Kidwai and local taxi driver Nicodemus Mwania have been missing in Kenya since 24 July.
In an impassioned appeal late Saturday on Twitter, Khan’s friend and chef Kishi Arora said: “Heartbroken to hear my friend @zakzulfi, Ex SVP Star TV & COO of Balaji missing for over 70 days from Kenya. No concrete response from Kenyan embassy. Request GOI to take this up strongly and bring him home.”
Heartbroken to hear my friend @zakzulfi , Ex SVP Star TV & COO of Balaji missing for over 70 days from Kenya. No concrete response from Kenyan embassy. Request GOI to take this up strongly and bring him home. @pmoindia @drsjaishankar @meaindia@KenyaDelhi @IndiainKenya
Please RT pic.twitter.com/GW4YIbKbhB
— Kishi Arora (@kishiarora) October 8, 2022
Kenyan media houses The Star and The Sunday Standard have reported about the likelihood of the duo as well as the taxi driver being abducted.
While the Standard revealed the two Indians were among a party of five men who had arrived in Kenya on tourist visas on 16 April, The Star said the abduction could be a fallout of their contribution in the field of information and technology to Kenyan President William Ruto’s re-election campaign.
“Mohamed Zaid Sami Kidwai, Zulfiqar Ahmed Khan and their driver Nicodemus Mwania are said to have been abducted near the Ole Sereni area in mid-July and driven away in an unmarked car,” The Star reported.
“A preliminary report handed over to the (Inspector General of Police) revealed that the three men were last seen when they visited a night club in Westlands, Nairobi, on the night of July 23. According to investigators, the two together with their driver were caught on camera having drinks at the popular joint. They left the venue at around 11.53 pm… When the police arrived, they found the engine of the car still running, but there was no one in the car. The vehicle was parked by the roadside and all the doors were wide open,” The Standard said.
After their lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullah said his missing clients were kidnapped by men “believed to be police officers”, the Internal Affairs Unit of the National Police Service was “ordered to take up the probe” on 15 September and report on the progress within 21 days.
However, in the weeks since, no further information or any reports of ransom have been made available to the Indian authorities, according to official sources. The whereabouts of Khan, Kidwai and Mwania remain unknown, with Khan’s last social media post dating back to a Masai Mara trip on 21 July.
With inputs from Nayanima Basu
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