Luley, who was the evidence collecting officer, brought the four AK47s, two G3 rifles and a FN Herstal with him to court/CFM
NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 6 – Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) Sergeant Ezekiel Luley told a court on Thursday that they recovered seven guns, some of which he implied were used by the terrorists, at the Westgate mall following the September 21, 2013 attack.
Luley, who was the evidence collecting officer, brought the four AK47s, two G3 rifles and a FN Herstal with him to court.
“We recovered the Herstal on the first floor next to the bodies of two KDF (Kenya Defence Force) officers on October 1, 2013,” he testified.
They recovered the other six guns in the basement on October 17, three of which (AK47s) were next to a charred jaw, skull and other bones.
“When we put them in a trough (the bones) it was about half full,” he testified adding, “they’ve been taken for forensics.”
And on October 20, he said they recovered about 10 kgs of flesh which was also taken away for forensic examination.
All this, including AK47, G3 and the FN Herstal magazines, were recovered between September 25, 2013 and October 27, 2013 when they closed the search.
“We were unable to access the mall on September 22, 23 and 24 of 2013 because KDF were fighting the terrorists,” he said.
He also brought to court with him the evidence they recovered from the Mitsubishi Lancer, registration KAS 575X, that the terrorists used to access the Westgate mall.
In it, he said they recovered two grenade safety pins, a live bullet, five Safaricom SIM card holders, a Safaricom SIM registration form, paperwork from the New Andulus gym, two exercise books, three Safaricom pouches, two brown bags in the boot that contained five tyre tubes and even wooden toothbrushes.
“The exercise books contained monetary calculations, names and other things in Somali language as for the tubes, in my experience, they are used to conceal grenades and magazines from detection when going through metal detectors,” he testified.
The deputy officer-in-charge of the Nairobi detachment of the ATPU, Newton Mwiti, had on Monday told the court that following analysis of the five Safaricom SIM card holders they were able to track the movements of one of the four terrorists who stormed the Westgate mall.
“The cell phone number (0726658736) was active in Kenya and Uganda from June 17, 2013. I was able to confirm that indeed he (Mohamed Abdinur Said) was registered as a refugee at Dadaab Refugee Camp and transferred to Kakuma Refugee Camp and that he enrolled at Gambella Primary School in 2010 as a class five pupil and taken away by the mother in December for the same year back to Somali,” he testified.
Once the trial resumes on April 10, Inspector Kennedy Musyoki who received the evidence from Luley is expected to shed light on how it led to the arrest and subsequent arraignment of Mohamed Abdi, Liban Omar, Adan Mohamed and Hussein Mustafah on suspicion of aiding the Westgate terror attack.
Chief Magistrate Daniel Ochenja is also expected to hear a re-application for the release on bail of the four terror suspects.
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