A man accused of the attempted murder two police officers and a hotel employee will be held in police custody for seven days for further questioning as investigators attempt to establish the motive of his actions.
Milimani Law Courts senior principal magistrate, Ms Zainab Abdul, ordered that real estate entrepreneur Dickson Njanja Mararo be held at the Muthaiga Police Station until July 15, 2021.
“The prosecution has established the case against the suspect is of serious nature which requires in-depth investigations,” she said.
The magistrate said police are yet to interview and record statements from Police Constable Festus Musyoka, who is admitted at Nairobi Hospital in critical condition, as well as Police Constable Lawrence Muturi and Quiver Club Waitress Felistus Nzisa.
“The suspect was escorted to the police after three days,” said Ms Abdul.
Ms Nzisa, who was shot in the abdomen, is recuperating from her city residence while PC Musyoka underwent 13 hours of surgery to piece together his neck bone and shoulders.
Ms Abdul said state prosecutor Everlyne Onunga has proven that the police require time to interact with Mr Mararo before filing attempted murder charges.
Machakos Town MP Dr Victor Munyaka, who attended Wednesday's court proceedings, told Nation.Africa that justice needs to be done for the victims of the incident.
The MP said the family of PC Musyoka, an officer attached to Starehe DCI Office, is apprehensive that “there is more than meets the eye in the shooting.”
“Police need to dig into the matter to come out with the truth...justice must be seen to be done,” Dr Munyaka stated, adding that “the injured officer is his constituent at Muumandu in Machakos County.”
When Mr Mararo was produced in court today, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), through Ms Onunga, said the shooting incident has raised a lot of concern and the police need to probe the incident thoroughly.”
She sought to have the suspect detained for 14 days, but defence lawyer Cliff Ombeta opposed this saying investigations could be finalised without his client being involved.
“Police do not need the presence of my client while his firearm is being examined by a ballistics expert,” said Mr Ombeta.
