This archive report was first published on 6 October 2019.
On October 6, 2019, detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) arrested three more suspects linked to the murder of Rai Cement factory manager Chetan Vyas in Kericho County.
The suspects, Michael Nicholas Mibei (42), Hilary Cheruiyot Kemboi (36), and Daniel Ruto (52), were arrested at Soin in Kericho County, following extensive forensic investigations of the crime scene in the residential house of the deceased.
During the arrest, remains of a destroyed phone belonging to the victim were recovered, and his sim card was confiscated from one of the suspects' home.
According to the DCI, the killers are believed to have destroyed the phone to erase traces of evidence. Several other damaged sim cards linked to other crimes were also recovered from Mibei's house.
The DCI further added that Rai Cement bought part of the land on which its factory sits from the suspects, and the three are now in custody and assisting in further investigations.
Earlier on the same day, five other suspects had been arrested over the gruesome murder of Mr. Vyas. They are Azim Salim (38), Osman Noor (24), Mohamed Shahid (38), Yacoob Wali (24), and Shabdin Ismail (29), all loading supervisors in Rai Cement Company from Mombasa.
The aspect of terror is also being investigated in the murder, as stated by the DCI. It also emerged that Shabdin Ismail previously worked in Saudi Arabia and Qatar as a security guard.
The DCI cautioned companies who employ foreign-trained personnel to always seek their clearance, which is done through coordination with International Police (Interpol).
On September 23, the body of Chetan Vyas was discovered at his house in Kericho, hands and legs bound with a rope that was also tied around his neck.
