Top cop Ahmed Rashid charged with murder of two boys in Eastleigh
On Monday, Pangani’s infamous officer Ahmed Rashid was charged for the murder of two teenagers in Eastleigh on March 31, 2017.
Mr Ahmed is accused of murdering teenagers Jamal Mohammed and Mohammed Dhair Kheri at Amal Plaza in Eastleigh estate, Nairobi.
In court documents, the officer who is accused of the alleged extra-judicial killing of two teenagers says that during the alleged shooting of the pair, he was “operating in the line of duty and in self defence”.
The two victims were killed over allegations that they were part of a criminal gang.
On Monday, he denied two counts of murder before Justice Diana Mochache, and the prosecution asked the court to remand him at the Industrial area pending a bail hearing.
Also read: Lobby group wants police officer Ahmed Rashid charged with murder
His lawyer Danstan Omari asked the court not to remand him and grant him a Sh100,000 cash bail, arguing that he had been out on police bond and he didn’t abscond.
Justice Mochache declined to allow the application by the prosecution to cancel Rashid’s bond, saying she did not see it necessary to do so, and released him on a Sh200,000 cash bail.
The ruling comes after months of differed court appearances after he alleged that Non-Governmental Organisations pressing for his prosecution are using the court process to raise funds to fatten their accounts.
This was because the court at the time was yet to determine his petition for protection from prosecutors and civil society, who have been pressing for his prosecution for allegedly killing the teenagers in March 2017.
Also read: Court defers murder plea taking of dreaded ‘crime buster’ Rashid Ahmed
His plea taking scheduled for February 9, 2023, was deferred until March 3, when the High Court was to rule on his petition.
Last month, the Independent Medico-Legal Unit, a human rights group, expressed dissatisfaction over the courts’ delay in prosecuting Rashid over the murder.
The statement from IMLU came after the Milimani Law Courts deferred the plea hearing against the Pangani-based crime buster.
The rights lobby challenged the country’s judicial system to fast-track cases of police brutality for the sake of justice to the victims.
Dubbed the “killer cop” by media outlets, Ahmed was filmed shooting the two young men as they lay on the ground on a busy street in Eastleigh.
The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) watchdog recommended murder charges against him last November, saying that its investigation into the deaths “established that the fatalities were occasioned by police action.”
Also read: Why suspected killer policeman Ahmed Rashid’s bond terms have been extended