A Somali-American citizen who disappeared mysteriously a week ago Bashir Mahmoud had been on close police watch over terror-related links.
Sources privy to the investigation says that Kenyan agencies believe that he was financing terror-related operations.
A senior cop in the counter-terrorism unit told People Daily that Bashir had close ties to a high-ranking Somalia government official.
Bashir was a contractor working on major government contracts among the Uhuru Park market in Kisumu.
His business operations were suspect in three countries where he was working. They had been flagged and a probe was ongoing.
“He is also linked to a top Somali politician that is all we know for now,” said the counter-terrorism officer.
Bashir was last seen leaving Mialle Lounge in Lavington, Nairobi on May 13. He has not been seen since then.
In CCTV footage captured at the lounge, he was seen dishing money to guards before driving out of the premises.
His posh Range Rover vehicle was on Tuesday found burnt down at Ngong Forest.
According to Nuru Said, Mahmoud’s lawyer, he was at Mialle for a meeting that never took place.
“He was supposed to go meet a couple of people there but the meeting didn’t materialize,” the lawyer said.
His disappearance on the eve of Eid-Ul -Fittr triggered panic among his kind who reported the issue at Muthangari Police Station.
Police reports according to Citizen TV indicate that a dealer in posh cars raised an alarm when he saw the vehicle in Kibiko area of Ngong Forest up in smoke.
When police officers from Kibiko Police Post got to the scene, the vehicle was already burned and only the shell was smoking.
What has now raised eyebrows is that the shell was carted away before police returned to the scene to conduct a forensic investigation at the scene.
Those who carted away the vehicle remain unknown.
Nuru says that they will be writing to the US Embassy in Nairobi for intervention.
“With Bashir being a US Citizen, we will also be writing to the embassy so that they can intervene,” he said.
Fresh details indicate that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is on tabs with the investigations.
Some FBI agents are already in Kenya. On Wednesday, they met Bashir’s family in Nairobi and pledged to help the Kenyan authorities in probing the matter.
Already, his family has demanded answers from the Ministry of Interior as it emerged that police took away CCTV footage from Mialle Lounge where he was last seen.
Staff at the hotel recorded statements with the police at Kabete Police Station.
