Edwin Kamau, a 23-year-old medical student at Makindu Medical Training College, Kenya, has been arrested by the police after he staged his own kidnapping to get money from his parents.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations-DCI, who confirmed Kamau’s arrest in a statement on Thursday, July 7, said the suspect ‘disappeared’ last Sunday before he blocked his father and called his mother, claiming to have been kidnapped and that his adductors were demanding a ransom of Sh70,000.
When Kamau’s placed another call through claiming that his abductors were about to eliminate him, his parents were able to raise Sh50,000 and send it as a deposit to secure their son’s release.
After receiving the initial payment of the ransom, it is said that Kamau went to a bar to have a good time with a woman he had just met. Unfortunately, the woman spiked his drink and stole the money.
The statement read,
“He told her that his kidnappers wanted a ransom of Sh70,000, to set him free before he hanged up on he. His distraught parents reported the matter to police officers who immediately launched a manhunt for the kidnappers.”
“However, the calls persisted with Kamau telling his mother that his kidnappers were on the verge of eliminating him. Determined to secure the life of their son, they sent Sh10,000 yesterday via mobile money and an additional Sh40,000 today.
“Immediately Kamau received the initial Sh10,000, he went to a club in Thika to irrigate his throat and make merry in the company of a babe he had met. And as fate would have it, the woman turned out to be a pishori admin who laced his drink with an unknown substance and stole the cash.
“Today after regaining control of his faculties, he called again and his parents sent a further Sh40,000 which he withdrew and secured in his shoes. By this time, detectives had closed in on him.
Upon questioning, Kamau said that he had squandered money meant for his last semester’s school fees and was wondering how he would raise money in order to sit for his exams, hence the fake story. He further disclosed that he had been ‘kidnapped’ alongside two other students whose parents had paid their ransoms. Detectives recovered Sh38,600 from the student who is now in custody at Koyole police station pending arraignment.”
