The ministry of external affairs (MEA) has said that it is keeping a close eye on the case of two Indian nationals missing in Kenya from July this year. One of them is former vice president of Star TV and ex-COO of Balaji Telefilms, Zulfiqar Ahmad Khan.
Zulfiqar, Zaid Sami Kidwai and their local driver have been missing in Kenya for almost three months. It is not known whether Zulfiqar and Zaid were friends. A police complaint was filed locally. Zaid’s wife, who was with him, moved court on July 28. An MEA spokesperson told media persons in Delhi on October 14 that a habeas corpus petition had been filed in a Kenyan court. He added that a number of hearings had taken place in the high court of Kenya. “Our high commission has been in continuous touch with the Kenyan authorities. We are also in touch with some family members,” explained the spokesperson.
Zulfiqar Khan’s lawyer in Kenya has blamed the state police for their abduction. His family in Bombay has sought PM Narendra Modi’s intervention to find and repatriate him. A friend said, Khan’s sisters in Bombay were in no condition to speak.
Zulfiqar resigned from his job in May this year and went on a trip to Kenya in July. He used to post travel updates, including the last from the Masai Mara safari, on his social media account. He was scheduled to return on July 24, but his family lost contact with him three days earlier.
The three persons were reportedly last seen at a nightclub in Westlands, Nairobi on the night of July 21. They were “driven away in an unmarked car”. The vehicle was allegedly found abandoned, with all doors open and the engine still running.
Khan’s media colleagues and friends have launched a campaign to trace him.
According to unconfirmed reports, Zulfiqar Khan and Zaid Kidwai were in the country to join the information and communications technology team of the election campaign of President William Ruto. The abduction could be a fallout of their contribution in the field of information and technology to Ruto’s re-election campaign. Ruto won the polls subsequently.