Arshad Sharif murder: Owner of missing car recounts how police ‘frustrated’ him
Details of how police officers attached to Pangani Police Station re-arrested the son of a man who had reported his car missing linked to the shocking murder of Pakistani journalist Mr Arshad Sharif can now be revealed.
On Tuesday, Mr Duncan Wainaina Kamau, 28, was arraigned in court where he was charged with unlawfully using motor vehicle of registration number KDJ 700F belonging to Mr Douglas Wainaina Kamau. Mr Kamau is the father to Mr Duncan.
The court had been asked to withdraw the case as the owner of the vehicle was no longer interested in pursuing the matter further.
According to a charge sheet produced in court, the accused was charged with “unlawfully using a vehicle contrary to section 294 of the penal code.”
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Detectives who were listed as witnesses in the matter include; Mr Kamau, Police Constable Ezekiel Kaberia, Sergeant Fredrick Obiero and Corporal Godfrey Munene.
Nairobi News has established that Mr Munene is the one who recorded a statement from Mr Kamau at Pangani Police Station on October 24, 2022.
“I requested the court to allow me to withdraw the matter as I had no interest in pursuing further since I had recovered my vehicle and my son was well. The court granted me an order and they withdrew the case,” Mr Kamau said in a statement.
Mr Kamau and Mr Duncan then followed all the processes but as soon as they stepped out of Makadara Law Court, his son was re-arrested by police officers who sped off.
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“They took him to Pangani Police Station and he was arraigned in court the following day,” Mr Kamau’s statement reads in part.
In court the police sought to be allowed to detain the suspect while conducting investigations, but the judge declined plea since the complainant had already withdrawn the case and had no interest in pursuing the matter further.
“The judge further said that since there was no case pending or under investigation to the aforementioned vehicle and my case was not in any way related to the shootout that caused loss of life of Pakistani journalist they had no reason to detain my son and the vehicle any longer. The judge ordered that my son and vehicle be released,” he said.
Nairobi News has learnt that Mr Kamau has never received his car back despite the court order.
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At the time of Mr Sharif’s fatal shooting, the police had already recovered a Mercedes Benz of registration number KDJ700F that had been reported missing on October 23, 2022, by a man identified as Mr Douglas Wainaina Kamau.
In his statement, Mr Kamau concerning the matter, by 9:30pm, Mr Kamau had been reunited with his son at Total Petrol Station in Kiserian. This was 30 minutes before Mr Sharif was shot dead and a report filed at the Magadi Police Station.
The vehicle had been reported missing at Pangani Police Station a few minutes past 7:20pm and it was recorded under Occurrence Book (OB) number 70/23/10/2022.
Details of the report show that Mr Kamau had gone to Ngara market and left his son inside the vehicle but when he returned, he never found him. The car was also missing.