India News | Friends of Zulfiqar Khan, Missing in Kenya, Seek PM Modi's Intervention
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Friends of Zulfi qar Ahmed Khan, who went missing in Kenya in July, have appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to launch an investigation with the help from Kenyan government to find the Indian national.
New Delhi, Oct 26 (PTI) Friends of Zulfi qar Ahmed Khan, who went missing in Kenya in July, have appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to launch an investigation with the help from Kenyan government to find the Indian national.
They dismissed media reports claiming that Khan was killed by the disbanded Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) unit in Kenya.
"We, the friends of Zulfi, feel he is 'alive' and request honourable Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi Sir, to form an investigation team and immediately launch an investigation in Kenya with the help from Kenyan government to find him," the friends said in a statement issued on Wednesday.
On Monday, India had described as "very disturbing" the circumstances surrounding the abduction of two Indians, including Khan, in Kenya and subsequent lack of information in the case.
Indian High Commissioner to Kenya, Namgya Khampa, met Kenyan President William Samoei Ruto and requested him for expediting the investigation into the matter, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had said.
A close aide of the Kenyan President last week claimed the two missing Indians, Mohammad Zaid Sami Kidwai and Zulfi qar Ahmed Khan, have been killed by the disbanded DCI unit, according to a media report.
It is learnt that the Kenyan government has not said anything officially on the report.
Kidwai and Khan, who were part of the Kenya Kwanza digital campaign team, went missing alongside taxi driver Nicodemus Mwania from Mombasa Road in July.
Khan's friends also requested the Indian media to extend a helping hand and do its own investigation to find him.
"You may have read media reports quoting Facebook and Twitter post by Mr Dennis Itumbi, who does not work for the Kenyan government, that personnel of an elite unit of DCI of Kenya kidnapped Zulfi along with two others. He further claims to be in the know of their ‘painful last moments'. This Facebook post by Mr Itumbi and other social media posts on Twitter by Kenyan influencers are speculative and thus misleading. The information is not supported with evidence and they seem to have built their own narrative. Most media reports are basis Mr Itumbi's Facebook and Twitter posts," they said.
Noting that the Kenyan media reportage has been largely unverified with no regard to the facts of the case or sentiments of the families affected, the friends said they have full faith in the Centre.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)