An unmarked police Land Rover left the Nairobi Police headquarters under the cover of darkness on Thursday night to transport seized Standard Group equipment to an unknown destination.
The green Land Rover, Registration Number KAL 029G, which was followed by an unmarked white Hyundai, left the former Criminal Investigations Department (CID) headquarters on Milimani Road at 8.45 pm and was driven through the city centre to Limuru Road.
On reaching Aga Khan Primary School, the Land Rover drew attention when the driver stopped in the middle of the road, blocking a few other motorists, before jumping into the Hyundai.
They changed places with another plainclothes officer who took the wheel of the Land Rover and drove off. A black oily substance was oozing from the Land Rover, which was covered with a green tarpaulin.
It is believed that the plainclothes officers in the two vehicles were part of an elite squad that had raided the Standard Group offices at I&M Bank Tower, Kenyatta Avenue and the Likoni Road printing press, which they disabled.
At I&M, closed circuit cameras caught the hooded police officers, armed with AK-47 rifles, ordering staff to lie down as they switched off KTN transmitters, yanked off cables and carried off computers.
On Thursday, sources said, a policeman was spotted at the Nairobi police headquarters with equipment from KTN and The Standard. Attempts to seek confirmation from officers there were thwarted when journalists were turned away.
The Quick Response Unit (QRU) whose members were used to terrorise the Standard premises, is an elite squad normally charged with the task of combating violent crimes.
QRU members are drawn from the Special Crime Prevention Unit and Kanga squad, both of which are answerable to the CID director.
At least all members are from the General Service Unit, but have since been incorporated into the CID.
QRU was established in early 2003 to specifically deal with violent crimes and murder incidents in the country.
