A Nairobi court has ordered a police officer arrested for the killing of his colleague to be detained at Ruaraka police station for seven days pending completion of investigations.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations had, through a miscellaneous application, sought to detain Police Constable Kipkoech Tarus for 14 days.
Tarus, an officer attached to the VIP protection unit is suspected to have murdered Raphael Kimuli Wambua, who is attached to the Central Bank of Kenya.
Tarus allegedly shot and killed Wambua on February 21 using his pistol. Wambua was walking home with his brother, Police Constable Erick Ngolania, when they were confronted by Tarus who shot the deceased.
In his ruling, Milimani chief magistrate Lucas Onyina allowed the application saying it was merited. The police wanted Tarus detained arguing they were yet to subject the murder weapon to forensic analysis.
In an affidavit filed by police constable Suleiman Mwatajiri of Starehe DCI, the state said it needed the time to complete investigations, including interrogating the suspect and recording his statement to support the investigations.
He said an identification parade was yet to be conducted and that Tarus was likely to interfere with potential witnesses given he is a police officer.
Other areas of investigation include forwarding the spent cartridges collected at the scene together with the firearm to the DCI headquarters for examination by ballistic experts, recording statements of prosecution witnesses and escorting the suspect for mental assessment at Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital.
Onyina agreed with application saying there was no doubt the respondent was being investigated for murder and that he has been assaulted by members of the public after the incident.
"I find that prayer number two is well grounded and that the nature of that investigation can be concluded in seven days," Onyina said.
He said police were free to take the suspect to hospital for psychiatrist tests. The matter was set for mention on March 11.
