Police detectives disclosed Kemunto, wife of the Riverside terror attacker, Ali Salim Gichunge alias Farouk, escaped to Somalia and arrested a male suspect who allegedly aided her escape alongside six others who were involved directly, or indirectly, in the deadly attack which left 21 dead a week ago.
However police were tipped of by locals of Machakos about a suspected couple living alone whom they thought resembled Ms Violet Kemunto.
The couple suspected of terrorism was arrested and later freed at Mavindi market in Makueni County on Saturday.
Locals said they suspected the woman to be Ms Violet Kemunto, the wife of Ali Gichunge who police believe masterminded the attack on Dusit complex, Nairobi.
Dozens of police officers raided the couple’s house at dawn. They then drove the two to the county headquarters.
After hours of questioning, County Police Commander Joseph Napeiyan told journalists that the two were traders.
“We have released them,” Mr Napeiyan said in Wote without giving details.
The Saturday Nation team visited the house after the arrests but it was locked and had not been marked as crime scene.
The couple rented the self-contained house on January 16, the day after the attack.
The only other tenant in the building is the Postal Corporation of Kenya.
“They remained indoors most of the time, raising suspicion,” a boda boda told the Saturday Nation.
The dawn arrest caught some locals and Mr Stephen Ngwili, the landlord, by surprise.
“I did background checks before allowing them to rent the house and was satisfied they were clean. They were referred to me by a taxi driver,” Mr Ngwili, the headteacher of a local school, said.
Are locals putting the lives of people at risk?