NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 31- Salim Rashid Mohamed alias Chotara or Turki Salim is a soft-spoken Kenyan from Mombasa, where he was born and raised.
While the looks and tone of his voice might conceal his real self, Chotara is a ruthless terror suspect, who had a Sh10 million bounty on his head.
He was arrested in the Democratic Republic of Congo over the weekend. According to authorities in Congo, he is a member of Allied Democratic Forces, an Islamist rebel group operating in Uganda and DRC.
Authorities said he had also joined the Islamic State’s Central Africa Province (ISCAP).
Chotara scored an impressive A-minus in his Kenya Certificate for Secondary Education (KCSE) and would later drop out of 3 universities.
He was sent to Turkey to study computer engineering after scoring an A-minus in the 2014 KCSE but was later deported after he was suspected of being a member of ISIS. Turkish authorities said he was found heading to Syria.
By all standards, police and people who know him from Mombasa say he was a smart student, “with a bright future.”
Authorities in Kenya want him extradited since he has an active warrant of arrest.
In a video seen by Shahidi News and one with detectives, a man said to be Chotara is seen in a cruel video beheading a man.
The man is said to have been “an ISIS traitor.” In multiple pictures, he is also seen armed with a rifle.
“I have only beheaded that one man,” he told authorities in Congo after he was arrested.
In the ghastly video, the military-clad terrorists are seen with a machete shouting in Swahili and Arabic that traitors must be killed.
He is said to have recruited several youths from Kenya, all of whom are currently working in DRC as turn boys for trucks, to conceal their real mission.
Freight Forwarding companies owned by some Yemeni businessmen are often exploited during these terrorist operations.
Kenyan police said he had been released on bond in 2020 over terrorism charges before he went missing. He is believed to have joined the Islamic State in Mozambique, after fleeing Kenya.
In a video released shortly after his arrest, the 28-year-old terror suspect can be seen explaining to DRC residents that he and two other associates were en route to South Africa in the hopes of starting a new life.
His family said they did not know of his whereabouts when police sought their help to nab him.
His friends, neighbours and former schoolmates told Shahidi News that they were shocked after seeing him in an undated video showing a person suspected to be him beheading an alleged Isis traitor
Chotara was described in a probation report as an intelligent man who has wasted his chances in life and chosen to engage in a dangerous trade.
-Troubled Life-
He went to Qubaa Nursery in Mvita and later joined Qubaa Primary School, before being transferred to Abu Hureira Academy, where he sat the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam in 2010 and passed.
He joined a private secondary school in Mombasa in 2011 and sat for his KCSE exam four years later, emerging one of the top candidates.
Salim was selected to join the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology but was not interested.
He was later enrolled at the Technical University of Mombasa to study computer engineering but dropped out after the first year.
He later enrolled for a certificate course in computer studies at Abraar Muslim School after which he joined computer engineering studies at Istanbul Kultur University in Turkey.
He was charged with the offence at Shanzu Law Court in 2017 but was acquitted for lack of evidence.
In 2019, Chotara was arrested at the Moi International Airport over terror links and charged in court. He was accused together with others, of being members of the terror group al-Shabaab.
He was also charged with being in possession of items used to make improvised explosive devices.
This was after he was found with twin stranded wires, batteries connected in a series using a piece of carton secured by an elastic string, inductor coils, black particles and white explosive powder, which are used in the making of an improvised explosive device for the purposes of terror activities.
He was found with the materials on March 8, 2019 at Ngomeni in Kwale County, police said.
After spending days in remand, Salim secured a Sh1.5 million bond with one surety of a similar amount, after Mombasa Senior Resident Magistrate Rita Amwayi said the prosecution did not have valid reasons to have him kept in custody pending the conclusion of his case.
He later vanished and his disappearance was reported to the police in December 2020.
By then, at eight witnesses had given evidence in the case and a warrant to arrest him was issued.
Police later arrested one Richard Lazarus Kivatsi, whom had been communicating with Chotara and another suspect, Alfan Ali Juma, who were said to be in Mozambique.
According to police, the two escaped to Mozambique after they were granted bond by the court.
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