Harish Daria Patel, also known as Ponytail, a decorated hero from the 2013 Westgate Mall attack has found himself on the wrong side of the law after he was arrested on Saturday, July 18.
A video obtained by Kenyans.co.ke shows the man of Indian descent alighting from a black Subaru Forester while in handcuffs at Gigiri Police Station under the supervision of an officer holding a police radio.
A source close to the matter noted that Patel was arrested after being accused of extorting money from unsuspecting members of the Asian community living in Kenya.
Reports also indicated that the suspect often bragged about having connections in the police force and that he had "Matiangi (Interior CS Fred Matiang'i) in his back pocket."
Accusers claimed that he misused his privillege of being a gun owner to threaten and extort money from Asians residing in Kenya.
"There are concerns that Harish who is a drug addict should not be allowed to roam around the city with a firearm as such privileges are posing danger to the society," read the statement in part.
He was accused of abusing tobacco, alcohol and bhang making him an unsuitable candidate of owning a gun.
Harish is said to roam around the city with two firearms including one which is not licensed and would extort his victims through scaring them of planting the unlicensed firearm in their cars before alerting the police.
Patel, who is a member of the Krishna Squad, dominated headlines in 2013 after he rescued hundreds of people from Westgate Mall even as gunshots rented the air.
He said that he dashed towards the mall at the time after he heard the gunshots after leaving a Hindu crematorium where he had been volunteering because "at that moment it did not matter whether they were Asian, African, White or Kenyan; you are in our country, and we have to look after you.”
A report by Daily Nation indicated that during his arrest, Patel was found in possession of a military smoke jacket, a pair of handcuffs, a bulletproof vest and a Ceska pistol.
Other possessions included 27 rounds of ammunition, two empty magazines, walkie talkies and 25 rolls of bhang.
He, however, pleaded not guilty to four counts of extortion when he appeared in court on Monday.
Below is the video:
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