Punjani discharged from hospital, Indian police say they’re ‘only waiting for 1 call’ to trigger action

Suspected drug baron Ali Punjani is out of hospital, Indian newspaper mid-day reports.

mid-day says Punjani was discharged from Bandra-based Asian Heart Institute at 4pm (1:30pm Nairobi time) on Thursday, August 15.

The tycoon underwent angioplasty at the medical facility, the newspaper says. Angioplasty is a procedure to restore blood flow through the artery.

mid-day reports that Punjani has now come on the radar of the Mumbai police.

“A senior doctor from the hospital confirmed to mid-day that Punjani had been discharged,” reports the newspaper in a story dated August 16.

Punjani, along with a woman and two men boarded a chauffeur-driven car and reached a five-star hotel barely a kilometre away from the hospital, the source told mid-day.

The daily reports that its journalists visited the hotel in which Punjani is accommodated, but the tycoon declined to speak to the reporters.

A source told mid-day that the hotel room, in which Punjani has been staying, had been booked against the name of a woman who accompanied Punjani.

The woman, the newspaper says, claimed to be Punjani’s sister.

Sources told the newspaper that Punjani had learnt about mid-day photographer waiting outside the hospital premises.

"In a bid to dodge the media, Punjani and his relatives boarded the car from inside and rushed to the hotel, where they had made an online booking after learning that they were under the scanner of the Mumbai police.

“Ahead of discharging him from the hospital, the executives from the administrative department of the hospital, the doctor who conducted Punjani's treatment and the senior officials of the hospital met him, apparently to give tips to stay in good health," the source is quoted as saying.

After reaching the hotel premises, Punjani was seen walking to the reception counter, from where he walked to the elevator to reach his pre-booked suite in the hotel along with his companions.

-Return to Kenya-

The newspaper says Punjani’s flight back to Kenya is scheduled for Monday, August 26, ten days from today (Friday, August 16).

“His business class air ticket has been booked for Nairobi from Mumbai for August 26 on Kenya Airways. His flight from Mumbai will reach Nairobi at 10.20am on August 26,” says mid-day.

After three hours, his connecting flight to Mombasa is scheduled from Nairobi at 1.30pm and he is expected to land in Mombasa at 2.30pm on the same day. 

mid-day reports that Punjani has booked the suite for another five days, which may be extended for another few days or cut-short — subject to legal complications if any in Mumbai.

-‘We’re waiting for one call’-

Mumbai police have approached the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), an INTERPOL agency, to know if any international administrative request has been made to assist Kenyan authorities in the war against illegal drug trade, mid-day says.

"But we are yet to receive any reply," a senior IPS officer told the outlet.

A source from the hospital revealed to mid-day that plainclothes police officers had visited Asian Heart Institute on Wednesday, August 14.

"But I am yet to get details about why cops visited the hospital to meet Punjani as they did not record his statement but spoke to him for a long time," the source said.

Another senior officer told mid-day: "We have kept a hawk-eye on his movements in the city. We are aware where he is at present. We are just waiting for one call from the foreign country."

-Links to power-

Punjani is accused of engaging in the illegal drug trade in Kenya’s coast.

Sleuths investigating his alleged involvement in drug dealings are now probing his links with high-ranking personalities, who, apparently, offered him preferential protection.

According to a top detective pursuing the case, crucial leads obtained from the palatial home during the Tuesday’s raid indicate the reclusive businessman spent  hundreds of millions of shillings funding at least two presidential candidates, 10 governors and dozens of MPs and MCAs.

The revelations came to light following heaps of documents ranging from land title deeds to payment vouchers that were found in one of his two private offices in his beachside castle at balmy Nyali.

“The man is well connected. It took us a short while after we entered his house to realise he could be 100 years ahead in terms of planning; he has thousands of sketches of his plans,” said the officer who spoke on condition of anonymity.

After the Tuesday’s raid, detectives were also able to access a highly secured private office which is said to be accessed by Punjani only.

“When I tell you [that] this man is miles ahead, I mean it. He was monitoring the entire search from wherever he is. He remotely controls the cameras,” he said.

Besides, investigators in the case managed to obtain CCTV camera Digital Video Recorder (DVR) which, they say, will help them review footages of people who visited the home for the past one month.

And Punjani’s range of network of informers cannot be underestimated according to officers interrogating the case, who said they started receiving uncountable number of strange calls shortly after kicking off the search.

“Even today, we have received several calls. We don’t even know where and how they got our contacts,” the officer told People Daily on Wednesday.

Punjani is said to be the owner of a posh hotel in Nyali among other properties.

-Wife’s arrest and release-

Meanwhile, his 24-year-old wife, Karki Sushmija, was freed by the Shanzu magistrate’s court on Thursday evening (August 15).

Resident Magistrate, David Odhiambo, said police had failed to link Sushmija to the illegal drug network.

Sushmija, a Nepalese national, was arrested on Tuesday, August 13, alongside four other people and charged with drug trafficking.

The four include Sushmija’s nephews Ram Manoj and Bashyal Shiva, a gardener at Punjani’s posh Nyali mansion, Boniface Maeleo, and Punjani’s house-help Lucy Njeri.

Magistrate Odhiambo termed the Prosecution’s case against the five suspects as a “story-telling mission, which the court was unable to buy”.

“l hereby order the respondents be released unconditionally since the Prosecution has been unable to press relevant charges against the respondents,” said Magistrate Odhiambo.

“To the respondents, walk free as you look up at the sky since the court has upheld your fundamental rights,” said the magistrate.

Odhiambo further observed that the Prosecution was not ready to proceed with the case against the respondents, given they had not pressed new charges against the suspects.

The magistrate said the Prosecution “produced the five in court to facilitate their [suspects’] release”.

The Prosecution, led by State counsel Augustine Ayeka, however, applied to have the suspects freed on bond as DCI detectives continue with their probe into the alleged illegal drug trade that the five are said to be involved in.

Ayeka’s plea was rejected.

On Wednesday, August 14, the magistrate ordered the police to complete investigations in relation to the suspects’ drug trafficking charges within 24 hours, failure to which the suspects will be released unconditionally.

In his ruling Thursday, Odhiambo observed that the seven days which were being sought by the State weren’t justified, given the investigating officers had already concluded and determined what charges to press against the suspects.

Drama unfolded outside the court premises on Thursday evening when plainclothes police officers attempted to re-arrest the suspects.

The accused however, managed to get into a waiting private car and sped off.