Retired manager of Doctors Park arrested over bomb scare

Doctors Park along 3rd Parklands Avenue in Nairobi. A former manager of the building, which was on January 30, 2020 screened, has been arrested on suspicion of dropping a note which alleged that there was a bomb. PHOTO | DENNIS ONSONGO | NATION MEDIA GROUP 

In Summary

• The noted was found by tenants at the main entrance of toilets on the fifth floor.
• DCI investigations and CCTV footage placed the suspect at the centre of the investigations.
• The suspect is alleged to have dropped the note two days after she retired from her position.

By MARY WAMBUI
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A former manager of Doctors Park which was last week screened by officers from the DCI Bomb Disposal Unit and Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) for explosives has been arrested.

This follows a bomb scare after a note was found in the building located along 3rd Parklands Avenue in Nairobi.

The suspect is being held by the police on suspicion of drafting the note that claimed a bomb had been planted in the building.

Ms Meera Dinesh Patel was Sunday arrested by ATPU detectives following a successful manhunt that begun on Thursday, the same day the note was found.

SPOTTED

Witnesses said the suspect had been spotted at the building around the same period that the note was sighted.

The noted was found by tenants at the main entrance of toilets on the fifth floor.

The DCI (Directorate of Criminal Investigations) collaborated this evidence with the building’s CCTV footage obtained earlier that placed the suspect at the centre of the investigations.

“She remains in custody pending her arraignment. We warn each member of public against engaging in such hoaxes that might cause terror to or interrupt the peace of other persons as appropriate punitive and other [legal] actions will be taken against them,” said The DCI on Twitter.

RETIRED

The suspect is alleged to have dropped the note two days after she retired from her position. She was later replaced.

“Ms Dinesh had expressed interest in taking up the manager’s position but she was not successful,” added the DCI on Twitter.

The note caused panic in the entire building, forcing tenants to stop their activities to pave way for a search.

Evidence of the thorough search was evident from the dismantled attic and parts of the bathroom.

The incident happened at a time when the country is on high alert over terror-related activities after the January 5 attack at Camp Simba a military base in Lamu County that is used by both the Kenyan and the American army.