Garissa attack suspects to be detained for a month
Five men linked to the Garissa University College massacre will be detained for 30 days to help police with investigations.
They are among 14 suspected Al-Shaababs arrested following last Thursday’s killings.
Mohammud Adan Surrow, Osman Abdi Dakane, Mohammed Abdi Abkar, Hassan Adar Hassan and Sahal Diriye Hassan will be held at an undisclosed police station in Nairobi, while the rest will spend between five and 15 days at Muthaiga or Kileleshwa Police Stations.
Mr Surrow is the owner of a Garissa hotel where the terrorists are believed to have stayed, while Mr Dakane is a security guard at the college. Police claim he was taking pictures of the dead while making calls.
Mr Abkar, Mr Hassan and Mr Diriye Hassan are believed to have delivered weapons to the attackers. Police say they were intercepted while trying to cross the border into Somalia after the bloodbath at the university.
CONTACT WITH ATTACKERS
Prosecutor Daniel Karuri said Mr Rashid Charles Mberesero alias Rehani Dida, a Tanzanian, was not in court because he had travelled with detectives to Garissa to help with more investigations. He is said to have confessed to being a member of the terrorist group.
“Investigations so far have established that the suspects had contact with the attackers,” Mr Karuri told the court on Tuesday.
He said the guard was asked to help move the bodies, but he began taking pictures and making frantic calls.
“Preliminary investigations on his call data have revealed that he has been in constant communication with several contacts in Somalia, suspected to be Al-Shaabab operatives,” Mr Karuri told the court.
The prosecutor said investigation also revealed that some attackers went to Mr Surrow’s hotel. Mr Karuri said there was information that the Tanzanian was heading to Somalia to join the terrorists.
“In light of this revelation, it was necessary to rush him to Garissa for further investigations,” he said.
The suspect will appear in court on April 9. The court was told other suspects, including a Yemeni and a Ugandan, had been on a surveillance mission for soft targets.