How 30-Man Gang Demolished Niraj Shah’s Palatial Home

A family in Nairobi is crying for justice after their palatial home was demolished on Friday by a brutal eviction squad that had been hired to solve a land dispute.

According to Avani Shah, the wife of businessman Niraj Shah, a gang of more than 30 people forced themselves into the property on Friday evening and ordered everyone out, saying they had been instructed to evict the family.

They then proceeded to demolish the four-bedroomed palatial home that sat on a one-acre compound on School Lane in Nairobi’s Spring Valley estate.

“While driving home from work, I passed over 30 people walking towards our home without knowing they were going to target my house,’’ Ms Avani said.

“I entered the compound, and closed the gate but a few minutes later, some people jumped over the gate, broke the padlock, and let in others.’’

As they broke into the house, the captain of the eviction squad told Ms Avani that they were on a mission to evict the family to release the land for redevelopment.

‘‘I asked him on what grounds and he said Lariak Properties Ltd had bought the house from Metro Pharmaceuticals Ltd.,” Ms Avani said on Tuesday.

No go-zone

Attempts to reach out to police officers at Silver Valley, Gigiri, and Parklands did not bear fruit as the invaders barricaded the property and turned it into a no-go-zone for security forces and the media until Monday afternoon.

The neighbours were also denied access to the property and had to follow the proceedings from a distance – and through their local social media groups.

READ: Inside the Dangerous World of Kenya’s Land Fraudsters

It is alleged that two days before the tragic event, three police officers drove into the premises and handed over a court order authorising the demolition of the house.

Earlier in the week the gang almost demolished another house in the neighbourhood mistaking it for Mr Niraj’s property.

The Shahs have lived in the house for more than two decades.

They inherited the home from their father who died in 2010, the year Lariak Properties Ltd claims to have acquired the multi-million-shilling property.

READ: Shock as ‘Land Mafia’ Grabs 500,000 Acres of State Land

Niraj Shah, who owns Metro Pharmaceuticals Ltd., says there is no link between the company and the home – which means the firm cannot sell the property.

“I own the company but it has no relationship with this family property. It is a clear indication that Lariak Properties Ltd does not have any facts about this land,” he said.

Court order

Lariak Properties, whose directors are Nathaniel Kipkemboi Barmasai, Samuel Chepkwony, John Kimaiyo Rotich, and Joel Kipchirchir Kiplangat, allegedly ignored a Nov 3, 2022 court order directing that the family should not be evicted.  

‘‘I don’t know what to do anymore,” Ms Avani lamented.

The property was owned by Niraj’s father – a Kenyan citizen by birth – and the lease for the land was renewed in 1998 for a term of 50 years.  

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