- So far, detectives have also identified the two other thugs involved in the murder.
- The two are on the radar and it’s only a matter of time before their fate is sealed, police said as they appealed to them to surrender.
Image: HANDOUT
One of the main suspects behind the murder of a detective with the Directorate of Criminal Investigation was arrested hiding in his grandmother’s house in Kikuyu, Kiambu.
The 23-year-old was part of the gang involved in the murder of Detective David Mayaka on August 8.
He was arrested on Tuesday out of his hideout in Ruthingiti, Kiambu.
Police said he had escaped from Kayole immediately after the incident and sought refuge at his grandmother’s home in Ruthingiti before detectives tracked him down.
A team of detectives handling the matter said they placed him at the crime scene and recovered the motorbike used as the gateway means during the incident.
They said the motorcycle sold him out after he rode from the scene through major roads that have security cameras, and then hid it in Kayole and fled to Githurai and later to his grandmother’s house.
Here, he could switch on his mobile phone to know what is happening and later switch it off.
Detectives said he once called an accomplice to inquire if there was any news on the shooting and who the victim was. This also sold him out. He was tracked to a cow shed where he was hiding.
In an operation by sleuths from the elite Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau based at the DCI Nairobi regional command, the suspect said his accomplices are still hiding.
The recovery of the motorcycle came after the team conducted a thorough forensic investigation that placed the suspect and his accomplices at the scene of the incident, at the exact time of the murder.
A comprehensive analysis conducted by ballistic experts based at the DCI National Forensic Lab has since linked the firearm that fired the fatal shot a C2, to five previous robbery incidents in the city, DCI boss Mohamed Amin said.
So far, detectives have also identified the two other thugs involved in the murder.
The two are on the radar and it’s only a matter of time before their fate is sealed, police said as they appealed to them to surrender.
Detective Mayaka who was based at DCI Makadara was driving home in the company of his wife Hellen Kemunto Mayaka on August 8, at around 10 pm when they were accosted by the three-man gang riding on a motorbike.
The officer had stopped his vehicle to change a flat tyre when the thugs struck.
CCTV footage emerged showing the moment Mayaka was shot dead.
Police said the gang was on a random robbery spree when they met the couple who were headed home then.
Mayaka’s colleagues described him as a humble and hardworking officer.