By Collins Wanzallah
Two people who were arrested last week on allegations of having hand grenades along Muthaiga Road in Nairobi were arraigned at a city court, where police sought orders to detain them for 14 days as they completed their investigations. According to police, Duncan Otieno and Calvin Odongo were arrested in a black Toyota Prado vehicle after they allegedly trailed them from the city centre.
The vehicle they were using was allegedly intercepted along Muthaiga Road while “trying to enter house number 44,” which belongs to former presidential aspirant Jimmi Wanjigi. Police, through the DCI, who filed the application, claimed that the vehicle’s driver, whose identity, according to them, remained unknown, managed to escape.
“We managed to get several items from the vehicle when we arrested the two, the police application added. Among the items recovered by the police, as stated in their applications, were four explosive hand grenades, two pocket phones, seven pocket chargers, three mobile phones, and a national identity card belonging to one Eliah Karangu Waithuku.
They added that the reason they were seeking to detain the suspects for 14 days was because they didn`t have time to conclude their investigations as they arrested the two late in the evening. “We seek the 14 days to subject the suspect hand grenades to the bomb disposal experts for analysis, DCI added in the court papers.
Another reason that the sleuth gave as a compelling reason to hold the two for two weeks is to have them grilled by multiple agencies on the motive of the explosives due to the security danger they pose and for an identification parade to be conducted. “We also need to send the communication gadgets to the communication authority of Kenya to ascertain whether they are licensed and permitted to be used within Kenya, reads part of the DCI application.
