Police in Nyali, Mombasa, have arrested a son of one of the Akasha brothers in connection with a robbery with violence incident.
Police said Akasha Baktash, 22, was arrested on Saturday, January 7, by officers who were on the beat behind Nyali City Mall. Two other suspects managed to escape arrest.
The knife-wielding gang of three is said to have abducted and robbed a 24-year-old man of a smartphone worth Ksh41,000 and Ksh3,000 cash in Tudor area on Friday, January 6.
According to the police, the victim identified as Derrick Gikanga approached the officers while on patrol on Saturday bitterly complaining of the incident.
"The 24-year-old who was wearing a torn shirt complained that on the previous day (Friday) around 7.30 pm within the Tudor area, he was abducted by a three-man-gang who were armed with knives," a police report reads.
Gikanga told the police that the gang forced him to enter the car and beat him before robbing him of his mobile phone-Camon 19 Pro and all the money he had.
"He was forced to provide his M-Pesa pin and later they dumped him at first avenue within Nyali area," police added.
The officers then launched an operation to arrest the suspects and later spotted a car parked on the side of the road.
However, the occupants of the car, a Nissan AD Wingroad- registration number KDE 348 K, sped off upon seeing the officers approaching.
"Police officers spotted a car parked on the side of the road. Police officers approached the said car but its occupants sped off defying orders to stop,” police said.
Police gave the suspects a chase, blocking their car.
"Three men alighted and fled by foot to a nearby bush. In the process, one suspect, namely Akasha Baktash, was arrested,” police stated.
The same car is linked to robbery with violence claims under OB number 14/06/01/2023.
The suspect is in police custody pending arraignment in court.
Akasha brothers
The suspect's father, Baktash Akasha Abdalla, is currently serving a 25-year prison term in the US over drug trafficking charges. His other brother, Ibrahim, is also in prison for a similar offence.
The two brothers were extradited to New York alongside foreigners Gulam Hussein (Pakistani) and Vijaygiri Goswami (Indian) on January 28, 2017.
