A police inspector is on the run after detectives linked his firearm to the killing of Dr Victoria Nthunya Mutiso in Nairobi.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) says the inspector, attached to Nderi Police Post under Kikuyu Police Station, is believed to have played a key role in the carefully planned murder.
DCI Director Mohamed Amin on Friday said the officer is believed to have acted as a link between the people who financed the killing and the suspected hitmen.
Investigators reportedly made the breakthrough after conducting ballistic tests on a firearm recovered following the arrest of another police officer.
The analysis linked the firearm to the inspector who is now being pursued by detectives.
The DCI has also arrested two suspects in connection with the killing, including a police officer believed to have been at the scene during the attack.
Amin said detectives have evidence placing the officer at the crime scene and are investigating him over shots fired during the attack.
“Investigations have established that the elimination of Dr Mutiso was driven by a longstanding land civil dispute,” Amin said.
Detectives are now pursuing additional suspects believed to have planned and facilitated the killing.
The latest development comes merely hours after former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua accused the DCI of attempting to cover up the involvement of police officers in Mutiso’s killing.
Gachagua had claimed he knew the identities of police officers allegedly involved in the murder and challenged DCI boss Amin to name them.
“I have the names of the three police killers from Murkomen’s community whom you have been instructed to cover up,” Gachagua said.
He specifically referred to an inspector from Kikuyu Police Station, a constable from the same station and another constable from Karinde Police Post.
Gachagua did not name the officers or provide publicly verifiable evidence to support his claims at the time.
The DCI’s latest announcement has now confirmed that a police inspector based in the Kikuyu area is being pursued in connection with the murder.
Mutiso was shot dead in Nairobi’s Upper Hill area on July 29 after she requested an Uber ride. Homicide detectives and forensic teams took over the investigation and began examining evidence recovered from the scene and premises linked to persons of interest.
The DCI had initially confirmed that two persons of interest were in custody but withheld their identities to protect the investigation.
The agency has now disclosed that one of those arrested is a police officer as detectives work to establish the full chain behind the killing.
Amin said the investigation was still ongoing and that more suspects could be arrested as detectives pursue those who allegedly planned and financed the attack.
The latest findings are likely to intensify scrutiny of the police force, particularly over how a serving officer’s firearm allegedly ended up being used in the killing of Mutiso.
