News 
Monday 4 May 1998 

 Tycoon Abdul Karim Popat was rescued from his kidnappers early yesterday, ending a 60-hour ordeal.

 And as he walked back into the arms of his wife Gulzar, emotion overcame them both and they wept tears of joy and relief.

 Not one shilling of the Sh50 million ransom demand was paid.

 Mr Popat - chairman of Simba Colt Motors and the Imperial Bank - was dramatically set free when police stormed the Nairobi bungalow in which he was being held captive.

 Gang leader Alois Kimani, recently sentenced to hang for robbery with violence, was shot dead after driving back to the bungalow - straight into the police trap.

 Two other kidnappers were seized: James Murithi Wamae, 26, a university graduate with a bachelor's degree in commerce, and Kenneth Kimani Kinyanjui, also 26, a computer programmer.

 It took more than 60 security men from the Flying Squad, the CID, the regular police and the Police Reserve to rescue 72-year- old Mr Popat.

 The security men had been tracking the kidnappers by monitoring the signals from their mobile telephone.

 At 5am yesterday they stormed the gang's three-bedroomed hide-out in the upmarket Karen area of the capital, in Dagoretti Road, near the Nyumbani Home for Aids Orphans and the monumental Resurrection Gardens.

 They recovered an AK-47 assault rifle with 23 rounds of ammunition, a Russian-made Tokarev pistol with six rounds and several car number plates.

 On his release, Mr Popat fervently thanked God for being alive.

 He said although his kidnappers had treated him well, they began by demanding a Sh200 million ransom before settling on a figure of Sh50 million.

 The gunmen kidnapped Mr Popat outside his Lavington home at 5.30pm on Thursday upon intercepting his Mitsubishi Galant saloon car and blocking its path with a white BMW 320.

 They later called his family and demanded Sh50 million for his release.

 Nairobi CID boss, Mr Swaleh Slim, said gang leader Kimani was an inmate on Death Row at the Kamiti Maximum Security Prison as recently as 1995. Mr Slim said that the kidnap case was a blessing in disguise for his men, since they killed one of the "most notorious criminals" in Kenya.

 He said that Kimani used to car jack expensive four-wheel drive vehicles and sneak them into neighbouring countries.

 Another officer was overheard saying Kimani might have been involved in the March 13 killing of German expatriate Dr Gerhard Stohl in Nairobi.

 Mr Slim said Kimani had left Mr Popat guarded by his confederates at 2pm on Saturday. On returning shortly before dawn, he drove into the trap laid by the waiting security team.