massive bombs were left at a police station for six days in Mombasa.
The
two bombs, which officers said could bring down a 14-story building,
were cleverly hidden in a vehicle that officers had impounded.
On Tuesday they launched a hunt for the owner after they found the two bombs, categorised as improvised explosive devices.
As the investigations were going in, bomb experts were called in to diffuse the devices.
The
devices were discovered on Monday when the officers invited experts to
inspect the vehicle after the two men who were driving it were arrested
in connection with terrorism.
The owner is reported to
have left the vehicle — a Toyota Surf — with one of the two men arrested
last week. The two men are in custody.
Inquiries by the Daily Nation
showed that according to registry records, a Toyota Hilux Surf, number
KAN 410E is registered to Barnabas Kiposkei Kiprono of PO Box 1459
Eldoret.
One of them allegedly told the officers that
the owner of the vehicle left it under their care, telling them he was
travelling to Tanzania. Tuesday, police said the owner of the car could
not be reached because his phone was switched off.
“The
information of him going to Tanzania might have been a ploy to escape
and evade arrest,” the police officer said on condition of anonymity.
On
Tuesday last week, detectives went to the parking lot and asked for the
owners. They arrested the two men who were identified by parking
attendants.
The vehicle was then towed to the Mombasa
county police headquarters where it stayed for almost a week. Mombasa
County Commissioner Nelson Marwa told a press conference that the arrest
was a breakthrough in the war on terror.
The two bombs
were found on the back seat of the vehicle, with cables connected to
the dashboard and with a wire leading to a mobile phone.
“We
are interrogating the suspects on the use of parts from different
models of cars to assemble the vehicle that had the explosive devices.
The chassis, plate and engine numbers don’t match,” he said.
Mr Marwa also said security had been beefed up in Mombasa and urged the public to continue with normal activities.
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