An Indian Court has issued new directives concerning two Indians who went missing in Kenya toward the 2022 August general Elections.
In the case, a Sister to one of the Indians had petitioned an Indian court to compel the Kenyan government to release his brother Zulfiqar Ahmad Khan who went missing in Kenya.
The Indian Judge, Justice Subramonium Prasad issued the fresh order directing Kenya’s Ministry of External Affairs to file a status report within three weeks.
“Notice was issued on July 12; the status report has yet not been filed. Let the status report be positively filed within three weeks,” the judge directed.
In her petition, Fatima Zacharia sought orders from the court to have the Indian government use all possible channels to coordinate with the Kenyan authorities to ascertain her brother’s whereabouts.
She claims that his brother was being detained in Kenya.
“To the best of the knowledge of the petitioner and their family, they are being detained on the authority of and on the instruction of Kenyan Local Police. The petitioner has no information as to where her brother, his friend and driver are as of today, whether they are alive or not and whether they are kept in custody,” the petition reads.
The plea states that the 49-year-old, a media professional who previously worked with Balaji Telefilms, Eros, and Warner Brothers, had traveled to Kenya on a tourist visa on June 24.
It further states that on July 22, 2022, Khan and his friend Zaid Sami KidwaI who is also missing, were around Westlands, Ole Sereni, when some people claiming to be police officers “unlawfully and arbitrarily” intercepted their vehicle and hijacked it.
“The abduction allegedly appears to be politically motivated for which not much help has been forthcoming despite numerous efforts which are still ongoing by the petitioner and the rest of the family including the Kenyan authorities,” it states.
The court heard that several requests through the Indian embassy in Nairobi had been made but no satisfactory action had been taken so far.
“The family has not been informed of the status of the investigation nor have they received any other information from the Kenyan authorities,” Zacharia told the court.
The two Indians are part of a team that had come to Kenya to join an IT team that ran President William Ruto’s election campaigns.
They are said to have been abducted near Ole Sereni alongside their driver Nicodemus Mwania and driven away in an unmarked car.
Reports indicate their car was blocked and armed men picked them up before vanishing.
Officers from the then-notorious Special Service Unit (SSU) which has been disbanded are linked to the disappearance of the trio.
