An Egerton university student who was kidnapped five days ago has been rescued by Directorate of Criminal Investigations detectives from Ruiru and Nakuru.
Ms Daisy Chebet Barno, a fourth-year student was abducted by three men at Kabarak in Nakuru County on Thursday. She was later driven to Nairobi.
Mr Simon Akuteka, 39, John Mbau, 38, Elijah Chege, 31 and Faith Mwende were arrested at an Airbnb apartment in Ruiru.
According to a post on Twitter by DCI, Ms Chebet’s friend Faith Mwende conspired with her boyfriend and other accomplices to kidnap her and demand ransom from her family.
On the day she was kidnapped, Ms Chebet was invited for lunch at Kabarak by Ms Mwende’s boyfriend identified as Mr Akuteka.
Once the two were in the car Mr Akuteka drove towards Kabarak to pick up a parcel. However, along the way, they were joined by two men. The three informed Ms Chebet that they had kidnapped her and demanded Sh600,000 ransom from her family.
“The three drove to Ruiru to OJ Restaurant where they booked a two-bedroom Airbnb and locked Ms Chebet in one of the bedrooms. Mwende who had joined them took the other bedroom where they made merry with her partner after Ms Chebet sent Sh50,000,” stated the post
However, detectives who had received a distressed call from Ms Chebet’s family traced the four who operated between Thika, Murang’a, Kajiado and Ruiru during the day.
Detectives based at the Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau pounced on the four in the rented apartment. The suspects defied orders to surrender and engaged the officers in a fistfight.
Preliminary investigations have revealed that Mr Akuteka, the prime suspect, is a fugitive who has several car theft cases pending before the courts in Nairobi and Kisumu. Mr Mbau too has similar cases pending before several courts.
Ms Chebet was rescued during the raid by detectives from Nakuru and Ruiru.
During arrests, cellotape, a rope, mobile phones, SIM cards and identity cards were recovered from the suspects.
“The four are in police custody helping police with investigations before being arraigned,” stated the post.
