Police shoot dead 3 kidnappers, rescue a woman in Nairobi

Three suspected kidnappers were Tuesday shot dead and a woman they had kidnapped rescued in Ruaraka area, Nairobi.

The woman was rescued unharmed in the 3 pm operation that saw police recover a pistol from the suspects.

Police said a businesswoman had been kidnapped after she arrived in Nairobi from Mumias.

According to Starehe acting OCPD Alice Kimeli, the woman is a businesswoman and is a frequent visitor to Nairobi where she picks goods for her business in Mumias.

She had come to Nairobi on Monday when she was confronted and kidnapped on the streets by the gang who seem to have known her.

“When she arrived on Monday, she was taken hostage by seven men who later called her family demanding a ransom of Sh400, 000 before they could release her,” said Ms Kimeli.

The family in Mumias panicked and sent the money to a bank account that the gang had provided. They however informed the police of the ordeal.

The gang kept shifting houses where they were keeping the woman as police traced them.

It wasn’t until yesterday at about 3 pm when they were confronted in a house and three of them killed. A hunt for the other four was immediately mounted in the area in an operation that lasted hours. Locals joined in the hunt seeking to get the escaping gang.

The rescued woman was immediately taken away from the scene. Police said they would move to court to freeze the money that had been sent there as ransom.

Cases of kidnapping have been on the decrease in Nairobi following police operations. Police have in the past years killed close to a dozen kidnappers, most of whom demanded ransom to release kidnapped victims.