Indian businessman brutally killed in Kenya; 4 held for kidnap, murder

KENYAN police officers were probing the gruesome killing of an Indian businessman in the Kilili area of the country's Machakos County on February 14.

The police found CCTV footage showing the victim, Jayesh Kumar Kanji, walking along Kodi Road in Nairobi West with his wife and child on the morning of the fateful day.

Kumar was reportedly picked by Kaylan Verkariya Kaylan Shivji, a friend who was driving a white Toyota Prado and went to Machakos County. He was not seen again. The duo went to conduct land transaction work, it was said.

Kanji's brothers Hetish Kumar and Dipak Valji approached the police the next day (15) to report a missing person after the businessman did not show up in the evening.

Read: India reacts to two missing Indians feared killed in Kenya: ‘Very disturbing’

They told the officers at Langata Police Station that their brother was supposed to go to work at Rongai but did not go there either, The Standard reported, His mobile phone was also found to be switched off.

Meanwhile, patrolling personnel at Lukenya Conservancy located miles away from the station spotted blood on the road and they soon discovered a checked shirt with blood stains, a shoe, underwear, metal rod and pieces of bones.

Read: Indian nationals’ disappearance: Foreign ministry says it’s in touch with Kenya authorities

They alerted officials at Kymbi Directorate of Criminal Investigation and they arrived on the spot to collect the bones and documented the case as an incident of an unknown person devoured by wild animals.

They took the items, including the rod and bones.

Officers at Langata formed a team to investigate the circumstances under which the businessman went missing, The Standard report added.

They checked Kanji's calls and arrested one Mbithi Munguti Mulandi at Athi River Tuff Foam area. Later, lead investigator Violet Kyalayi told a court that Mulandi revealed that Kanji's friend had allegedly kidnapped him at a petrol station along Langata Road on February 14.

The businessman was reportedly battered with a blunt object at the back of his head and the assassins allegedly removed his clothes and poured acid on his body.

The police reconstructed a murder plot that allegedly included two hitmen who were waiting in the conservancy and attacked the businessman.

“The first respondent stated that they drove to Lukenya Conservancy where they murdered Jayesh Kumar Kanji Velji, doused his body with a certain acid and dumped it there. The first respondent led the investigations team to a remote area within Lukenya Conservancy where he alleged to have dumped the body,” Kyalayi was quoted as saying by The Standard report.

According to another report, a motorbike, suspected to have been used by the suspects, was discovered a few metres from the scene. Verkariya and two other suspects were also arrested in connection with the murder. The vehicle which was allegedly used for kidnapping Kanji was also impounded.

The police told the court that the arrested men were a flight risk as they know that they will likely be charged with the killing. They also said that they needed more time to establish that the parts that were discovered belonged to the dead businessman.

The court has allowed the police to hold the four arrested for 21 days, The Standard report added.