- Friday, May 10, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
India has responded to the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of two Indians in Kenya as “very disturbing” with its envoy in the east African nation meeting its president William Ruto on Monday (24) and requesting him to expedite the probe into the matter.
There has been a report that the duo — Zulfiqar Ahmad Khan and Mohammed Zaid Sami Kidwai — who were part of Ruto’s digital campaign team, were killed by a disbanded group. While the report cited a close aide of Ruto claiming that the two Indians were murdered, it was learnt that the Kenyan government was yet to make any official announcement on the same.
Ruto became the president of Kenya last month succeeded Uhuru Kenyatta who was in power since 2013.
India’s ministry of external affairs (MEA) said in a statement on Monday, “We have been in regular touch with the Kenyan government to locate the whereabouts of the two missing Indian nationals, Mohammad Zaid Sami Kidwai and Zulfiqar Ahmed Khan.”
Our response to media queries on the two Indian nationals missing in Kenyahttps://t.co/eXzMMmvGaJ pic.twitter.com/T3XrnqGJ7i
— Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) October 24, 2022
“Our High Commissioner in Nairobi, Namgya Khampa, today called on President William Samoei Ruto to convey our deep concern and request the expediting of investigations into the matter. The specific circumstances surrounding the abduction and subsequent lack of information is very disturbing. We expect that the case will be investigated thoroughly,” it added.
MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi also said that the case is under active investigation by the Internal Affairs Unit of the Kenyan police.
“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,” he added.
Kidwai and Khan were part of the Kenya Kwanza digital campaign team and went missing alongside taxi driver Nicodemus Mwania from Mombasa Road in July and were not seen again since then.