A post-mortem examination on the body of a Thika-based businessman shot dead on Saturday afternoon in Juja, Kiambu County, has contradicted a police report that claimed he was shot numerous times.
The report shows Sudhir Shah was shot once at close range.
Government pathologist Johansen Oduor conducted the autopsy at Bishop Okoye Funeral Home in Thika.
“Our findings were (that) he was shot once with a single bullet which entered the chest cavity and went out through the lower back,” the report says. The bullet also “injured the right lung with a lot of internal injuries’’.
Dr Oduor noted that Mr Shah was shot at close range.
“We can say that it was an intermediate range. He was shot only once because there is only one entry and one exit. He died of a single bullet injury on the right side of the chest. From the injuries, we think (a pistol was used in the shooting),’’ he wrote.
Police had reported a fierce shootout between two gunmen riding a motorcycle and the bodyguard of one of the men who was with Mr Shah in the attack at a coffee farm near Thika Road.
Mr Shah’s family has disputed the police version of the events and claimed he walked into a trap as he was the only one shot among the group that included his co-director in Ndarugo Plantation 1960 Ltd and investors who were to buy 150 acres valued at Sh3 billion.
The company is co-owned by Mr Shah and Francis Michuki, son of the late internal security minister John Michuki. Mr Michuki was present during the shootout, as were his bodyguard and driver, as well as the five prospective buyers of the land in Ndarugo, Juja.
The property is registered under Ndarugo Plantation 1960 Ltd and is based in Juja, Thika Road.
The latest land index released by real estate company HassConsult in December last year showed that the average value of land per acre in Juja ranges between Sh6.4 million in the lower side of Juja and Sh16.6 million, with the highest at Sh22 million.
That means the 150 acres Ndarugo Plantation 1960 Ltd planned to sell had a potential to fetch between Sh960 million and Sh3.3 billion.
On Monday, Mr Shah’s family questioned the way he was killed and linked it to the deal.
Nothing was stolen from any of the nine people in the group. Mr Shah will be cremated on Thursday in Thika.
He was pronounced dead on arrival at Thika Central Memorial Hospital.
Mr John Gachomo, the head of investigations at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), did not respond to calls and text messages yesterday from the Nation on the status of the inquiry into Mr Shah’s killing.
The mobile phones of all the eight people who were with Mr Shah when the shooting happened were seized for forensic analysis.
Mrs Taruna Shah, his widow, told the Nation in an interview on Monday that her husband woke up at 6.30am on Saturday and proceeded to the temple in Thika before driving to Ndarugo, a 12-minute drive from Section 9 in Thika where he lives.
He was to meet five investors who wanted to set up a special economic zone in the area that would include industries and target companies that have operations in Nairobi, Thika and East Africa with ready godowns for their businesses.
“He was in a good mood when he left home for the temple and later proceeded to Ndarugo in Juja. He was going to meet five investors who wanted to buy 150 acres, part of 300 acres that he co-owned with five other directors of Ndarugo Plantation 1960 Ltd. This (was) the first time he was meeting the said investors,” Mrs Shah said through the family spokesperson.
“His death is suspect. Why him? No one else was injured during the shootout, not forgetting that Francis Michuki had a bodyguard and we are told he fired back when the two gunmen riding on a motorcycle had left,’’ Mrs Shah noted
“I mean … no one else was injured during the shooting and it looks like it was something that was premeditated or organised.”
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