Police officers arraigned in Thika court over attempted extortion on Chinese national
Five police officers and a civilian in the dock at a Thika magistrate’s court on June 13, 2016 where they were charged with attempting to extort Sh1 million from a Chinese national last Friday. PHOTO | MARY WAMBUI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- They denied the charges before Chief Magistrate Theresa Murigi who ordered that they be remanded until Wednesday when they will appear in court.
- The civilian was the driver of the Toyota Probox car that was used by the officers to arrest the Chinese.
- The officers had arrested Mr Wei in Makongeni, Thika on Friday claiming that he did not have valid documents to be in the country.
- Police are looking for the alleged immigration officers and the two cars they rode in during the operation.
Five police officers and a civilian who were arrested on Friday at the Muthaiga Police Station in Nairobi while attempting to extort a Sh1 million bribe from a Chinese national were on Monday arraigned in a Thika court.
The six, Peter Ng'ang'a, Job Mitau Muasya, Richard Hungi Kahungu, Laban Waweru, Dancun Munyekenye and Jared Mwanziki Kirima were said to have demanded Sh1 million from John Kinyanjui in order to release Wei Xian Shun, who was in their custody.
They denied the charges before Chief Magistrate Theresa Murigi, who ordered that they be remanded until Wednesday, when they will appear in court.
The lawyer representing the five officers, Norman Otieno, requested the magistrate to grant his clients bond, arguing that they had no previous criminal records and that they were still active on duty, but his request was turned down.
IDENTITIES CONFIRMED
The Thika deputy criminal investigations officer had earlier confirmed that two of the police officers are from the Kiambu quick response team, two are regular police officers attached to the Railways police headquarters while the last one was an AP attached to the Kaloleni Police Station.
The civilian was the driver of the Toyota Probox car that was used by the officers to arrest the Chinese.
The officers had arrested Mr Wei in Makongeni, Thika, on Friday claiming that he did not have valid documents to be in the country.
They drove him to the Muthaiga Police Station in Nairobi, where police officers from Makongeni who were trailing them arrested them and took them to Thika Police Station for interrogations.
On Saturday, Nairobi and central region senior Administration Police officers attended a day-long closed-door meeting with Thika DCI officers in Thika to check on the progress of the investigations.
According to Thika DCIO Raphael Wawire, the five had alleged that they were in the company of three immigration officers during the operation.
Police are looking for the alleged immigration officers and the two cars they rode in during the operation.
