This archive report was first published on 15 August 2019.
On August 14, 2019, police in Mombasa arrested Karki Sushmita, the wife of businessman Ali Punjani, and four others at Punjani's homestead in Nyali. The suspects include Sushmita's nephew Bashyal Shiva Prasad, his Indian friend Ram Manoj, and two of their workers, Lucy Njeri Njane and Bonface Maelo.
Police had sought to detain the five for seven days pending investigations into alleged links to drug trafficking. However, Shanzu Law Courts Senior Resident Magistrate David Odhiambo declined to grant police their request, citing a lack of reason for detention.
According to Odhiambo, police have 24 hours until 4PM to charge the suspects or release them unconditionally. 'Police have not given any reason as to why they will want to detain the respondents. They have 24 hours until 4PM to charge them or release them unconditionally,' Odhiambo said.
Punjani's lawyer, Asige, denied the allegations, stating that police had found no narcotics at Punjani's homestead despite a 12-hour search with sniffer dogs. 'I can confirm that police raided the home of Punjani without a warrant and proceeded to search the homestead and after 12 hours of searching, they found no narcotics. And they have not pressed any charges so far,' Asige said.
