Kabras Sugar owner billionaire Jaswant Singh Rai released by abductors

Kabras Sugar chairman Jaswant Singh Rai was released by his abductors days after the incident.

He was warned not to discuss whatever happened to him with anyone.

His lawyer Senior Counsel Kioko Kilukumi confirmed Rai had been released on Sunday.

The lawyer said his client was released on Sunday evening, two days after he was abducted at the junction along Wood Avenue in Kilimani on Friday, August 25.

“Let him rest for now. We will know more later,” he said. He said the businessman was shaken but fine and back with his family.  He is yet to reveal who his abductors were.

The billionaire went missing when his Toyota IC200 was blocked at the junction of Wood Avenue in Kilimani opposite Kenwood Apartments at around 4 p.m. by persons driving a grey double-cab pick-up.

CCTV footage of the abduction shows four men getting out of the pick-up and forcibly pulling the occupants of the billionaire’s car into their vehicle before speeding off towards Galana Road. Rai’s car was left idling on the road.

Later, officers at Kilimani Police Station received reports of an abandoned vehicle and towed it to the station, unoccupied and with only a minor scratch on the front right side where the pick-up had made contact.

The billionaire owns Raiply, Kabras Sugar, and Uganda-based Sarrai Group.

The drama happened on August 25, officials said. Police say they are yet to know those behind the incident and the motive for the abduction. However other sources linked it to a business rivalry in the sugar industry. Police are currently investigating the abduction.

A missing person report was filed at Kilimani Police Station, Nairobi on Saturday by the daughter of the billionaire via OB No 21/26/08/2023.

The report of the missing man came a day after his vehicle was found abandoned in Kilimani on Friday.

Kilimani police commander Moss Ndiwa said they were informed by a member of the public on Friday that a vehicle had been left abandoned by the roadside in the area.

“This forced traffic police officers to tow the vehicle to the police station,” he said.

CCTV footage provided by the family revealed how the drama happened.

Police said no contact had been made with the family so far from the suspected kidnappers.

No demand for ransom has been made so far, according to the investigators.

President William Ruto had earlier attacked and singled out Rai (Jaswant Rai) of the Rai Group over the state of the sugar industry.

Rai Group controls more than 40 percent of the country’s sugar production and market supplies.

Ruto was brutal in attacking him even as his family looked for him as he was yet to be found.
“Msikuwe na wasiwasi niko hapo chonjo kabisa. Nitahakikisha hii kitu inakaa chonjo. Na wakora wote wako katikati. Msikuwe na wasiwasi ati kuna mtu atakuja kutuongelesha kingereza. Sijui mhindi fulani. Sijui nani ni nani. Sijui mwingine ananiambia Rai. Rai Nani? Hapana hiyo haiwezekani.” (Do not be worried, I am alert to make sure everything will be okay. There is no one who will meddle. Do not be worried about someone coming to talk to us. Someone was telling me Rai. Who is Rai? No, that is not possible.)

The businessman had last month obtained an order to stop a police probe into his business deals and in particular Mumias Sugar Company.

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