26-Year-Old Found With Car Reportedly Stolen In Arshad Sharif's Death

A 26-year-old was dragged in the middle of the confusion surrounding the vehicle that was at the centre of the fatal shooting of Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif in Kenya.

Fresh police reports have claimed that the car which was confused for the one that Sharif was travelling in on the fateful night on Sunday, October 23 may not have been stolen as was initially reported.

The car was found by police at a petrol station in Kiserian with the 26-year-old on the steering wheel. He was arrested and charged in a court of law on Tuesday, October 25 for driving without a license.

A Mercedes Benz sprinter. /WIKIPEDIA

However, his father, who was also a complainant, had applied for the case to be withdrawn through lawyer Elisha Ndemo.

The son was alleged to have driven off with the car to attend an event and his phone was on silent while he was inside.

The father, Douglas Wainaina, was reported to have attempted to call him but he did not respond, prompting him to report to the Pangani Police Station that he had parked the vehicle outside an electrical shop in Ngara with his son inside.

"It started when officers from DCI Starehe circulated a report of theft of a motor vehicle/abduction vide OB 70/23/10/2022 that one Douglas Wainaina parked his motor vehicle registration number KDJ 700F outside an electrical shop and left his son namely Dancan Kamau inside the said motor vehicle. On return, he found the said motor vehicle missing," a police report on the matter had read in part.

The car was revealed to be a Mercedes Benz Sprinter van while the one the late Sharif was travelling in before he was shot was a Toyota Landcruiser V8 registered under KDG 200M.

The disappearance of the vehicle eventually led to the shooting of the journalist who was accused of bypassing a temporary roadblock along Magadi Road in Kajiado county.

"NPS regrets to announce an incident that occurred last night along Kwenia farm/Kamukuru marram road within Magadi, Kajiado where a foreigner National namely Arshad Sharif, a Pakistan national aged 50 years was fatally wounded by a police officer while a passenger in a motor vehicle KDG 200M. At the time of the incident, the deceased was in the company of his brother namely, Khurram Ahmed," part of a statement by National Police Service (NPS) spokesperson, Bruno Shioso read. 

Since the incident, four officers attached to the General Service Unit (GSU) were questioned alongside one police officer who sent out the missing car alert. Their firearms were confiscated for ballistic analysis.

The Pakistani government launched a formal enquiry into the killing of the popular investigative journalist, whose remains were airlifted back to their country for his burial.

Sharif's wife, Javeria Siddique, joined his family in calling for justice over the incident, with Siddique demanding that the police in Kenya should be held answerable for her husband's death.