Guards to UPDF general were arrested over city robberies

Two guards including a UPDF sergeant and an Assistant Inspector of Police attached to a general in the UPDF have been arrested by security over the current wave of city robberies, the Nile Post has learnt.

In the past few weeks, there have been a number of armed robberies in which a number of people have been killed and huge sums of money stolen raising concern over the security situation in the city and its suburbs.

In all the incidents, the attackers who are armed riding on motorcycles seem to do it with professionalism and at ease before vanishing in thin air.

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On Tuesday, a joint security operation led by the Crime Intelligence, Flying Squad and 999 patrol system raided a rented apartment for one Stanley Muhindha, a resident of Kinonya, Masanafu zone, Lubaga division in Kampala.

During the raid, the occupants of the apartment got wind of the security presence and an exchange of bullets with officers started and in the process, one police officer was injured in the leg.

One of the suspects later identified as Richard Kasirye managed to escape with a rifle and efforts to pursue him turned futile.

The apartment owner, Mulunda was unlucky as he got arrested and on searching the house, a number of items including a number plate, 32 live ammunitions, two empty magazines, two AK47 rifles, court documents and a hammer were recovered.

A Toyota Noah registration number UAX 343Q suspected to belong to the gang was also impounded from the scene.

Interrogation

Following his detention, Muhindha was later interrogated and divulged more information to investigators leading to the arrest of other suspects.

The joint security operation would later arrest AIP Geoffrey Yiga and Sgt.Muhammad Kalule, all guards attached to a UPDF general.

The detectives also recovered a star pistol registration number UGPOL 0068717 with 15 rounds of ammunition belonging to AIP Yiga and an AK47 rifle registration number UG/UPDF 49034042 with 26 live ammunitions.

Army says the guards were doing an operation

When contacted for a comment on the story, UPDF spokesperson Brig. Richard Karemire said the story had been quoted wrongly by the media adding that the two have since been released.

“It is a long story which no media house has got correctly. The soldier and police officer working with Maj.Gen. Elly Kayanja were perusing a different case already registered with police,” Brig. Karemire told the Nile Post.

“They just happened to be in the same area where another operation was taking place. They have since been released.”

The army spokesperson insisted it was a strange matter because the two guard attached to Maj.Gen.Elly Kayanja were only caught up while following up another matter.

“If it was true, we would not deny.”

Incidents

Last month there was an attack in which six thugs armed with guns and riding on three motorcycles raided Cheap hardware in Nansana killing three people including one of the managers and left others injured.

They would later rob the hardware shop of an unspecified sum of money.

According to eye witnesses business came to a standstill for over 20 minutes when the robbers wearing masked sealed off Hoima road without any vehicle allowed to move.

They later fired bullets in the air to dispel off any possible attacker before robbing the hardware shop in broad day light before taking off with their loot.

Earlier, there had been another armed robbery in Mpererwe along Gayaza road in which huge sums of money were stolen from a supermarket.

On Tuesday, in a similar fashion, armed thugs travelling on motorcycles attacked a mobile money point in Bunamwaya, Makindye Ssabagabo in Wakiso district before killing the occupants.

According to eyewitnesses, the incident that happened at around 10pm saw the armed thugs park near the mobile point at around 9pm and waited for Harriet Naluwadde, 33, a mobile money agent and Maureen Nakabuubi, 25 to count their day’s earnings and as they left the point, they were shot dead.

“It is alleged that five thugs riding on three unidentified motorcycles robbed the victims of an unspecified amount of money before shooting them near their shop as they headed home,” Kampala Metropolitan Area Police spokesperson, Patrick Onyango said.

The police mouthpiece said after shooting dead the mobile money agents and robbing them of the money they had, the robbers vanished in thin air.

The recent spate of armed robberies in various parts of the city have raised concern over the security of the country despite the erection of CCTV cameras and deployment of Local Defence Units to complement police efforts.

Speaking during the unveiling of the Police Crime report for the year 2018, CID Director Grace Akullo said the increased number of boda bodas and advancement in technology have greatly led to increase in crime.

“There is widespread use of boda bodas making it easy for people to commit crimes and later escape easily,”Akullo said.

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