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Flying Squad officers hunt for man in botched kidnap plot


Flying Squad officers are looking for a man who fled on a motorcycle with a knife stuck in his thigh after a botched hijacking.

The dramatic noon incident happened near Panafric Hotel and metres away from the Flying squad headquarters in Nairobi.

The victim of the botched hijacking, Mr Peter Andrew Ngirici, a Mombasa businessman, told Nation that he was lured to the scene by the man the police are hunting.

TAX EVASION

“He called me at 9.30am and said he is a senior police officer. He requested for a meeting because he had secret information he wanted me to know. He said the issue regarded my records at Kenya Revenue Authority and tax evasion,” he said.

Mr Ngirici’s account was frozen by KRA three weeks ago but he appealed and the matter is pending in court.

The caller requested that the meeting should take place at the Milimani Law Courts.

“My sixth sense told me he was up to no good so I informed the Flying squad. The officers then told me they would be on standby because they would be monitoring my movements,” said Mr Ngirici.

When he drove to Milimani, the caller told him that he was in the court room and therefore would not be available immediately.

PHOTO | FRANCIS NDERITU
PHOTO | FRANCIS NDERITU

They agreed that he would wait for him at Panafric Hotel.

“Just before noon he said he was at the Shell petrol station near the hotel’s gate. I walked there and called him again. He said he had spotted me. An attendant at the petrol station approached me and pointed to the car,” said Mr Ngiricu.

‘NO THREAT’

He went on: “I walked to the car. He was alone in the car so I was convinced there was no threat. I opened the door and sat on the front passenger seat and we began talking.”

As they chatted, Mr Ngirici’s phone rang, triggering the rage and drama that followed.

“He surely saw the name of the caller whose name I have saved as flying squad. He panicked and started driving away very fast,” he said.

As the car – a white Toyota allion KCK 755G – gained speed, Mr Ngiricu grabbed the automatic gear lever and moved it from Drive to Parking, causing the vehicle to screech to a halt.

The two men then engaged in a tussle, Mr Ngirici was struggling to get out while the other wanted to regain control and speed off.

“At that moment another car, a Probox was trying to block the way. I realised it was also part of the plot. As we struggled one of the compartments flew open and there was a knife. I grabbed it, stabbed him on the thigh and I jumped out. The Probox sped off,” he said.