A 36-year-old man is cooling his heels in police cells awaiting arraignment in court over a fake kidnapping incident reported in Kabusenduk village in Bureti, Kericho County.
The boda boda rider is accused of faking his kidnapping in an attempt to extort his wife Sh100,000.
According to County Criminal Investigations Officer (CCIO) John Onyango, the man was arrested at a friend’s house as he waited for his wife to send the ‘ransom’.
The rider is reported to have contacted his wife telling her that he had been abducted by unknown people who wanted the money before freeing him.
To convince his wife that he was in trouble, the man said his alleged abductors were already at Chepsir trading center along the Kericho-Nakuru highway speeding to an unknown location.
The wife reported the incident to local authorities.
Read: KDF Officer, 3 Others Arrested For Allegedly Kidnapping A Businessman In Nyeri
Police launched investigations into the incident and found the suspect’s motorcycle abandoned at Kebeneti dispensary.
After a 24-hour sting operation detectives found the rider at one of his friends’ house, sitting pretty waiting for his wife to send the money.
“The suspect was just relaxing waiting for ransom money to be sent to him. He was arrested and placed in a police cell to be charged on Monday over the purported kidnap,” said Onyango.
Preliminary investigations indicate that the rider wanted to raise Sh100,000 to offset a loan he had taken from a local Saving and Credit Cooperative Society (Sacco).
Read Also: Two Main Suspects in Kamukunji Businesswoman Hafsa’s Kidnapping Arrested
“The suspect had used the motorcycle to secure the loan and it is in the vedge of being repossessed. That is what led the suspect to try to extort the money from his wife by crafting the kidnap story,” Onyango added.
Police released the rider’s friend from custody after finding out that he was not aware of the suspect’s scheme.
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