Police Station attack: Suspected raider's body released, four granted bond

KASESE - Police in Rwenzori East Region, Kasese district, on Friday released the body of a man shot dead during a foiled suspected attack on Bugoye Subcounty Police Station.

On the same day, four suspects who had been arrested over the same raid were released on police bond.

The Rwenzori East Regional Police Spokesperson, ASP Elly Maate, confirmed the developments, saying that they followed engagement with the Sub-county local leaders.

Sources close to the investigation quoted relatives of the accused lashing out at police for arresting the four men whom they say were pulled from their beds. Some residents, according to the source, said the suspects had not been anywhere near the station.

The raid occurred on Thursday, October 1, at about 2:40am when a man, reportedly wielding a machete, stormed the Subcounty headquarters police station guardroom where the Officer-in-Charge, Fauza Balyogera, and another officer identified as Akampurira, were on duty.

According to police, the officers initially mistook the group approaching the station for residents seeking emergency help.

But ASP Maate said one of the men attempted to disarm officer Akampurira, prompting a scuffle.

Maate identified the deceased as Masereka Zalimoni Kyanakyibi, a resident of Maghoma village, Muramba Parish, Bugoye Sub-county. (Credit: John B. Thawite)

“In self-defence, the officer shot him in the leg to immobilise him, but the assailant continued rolling and crawling on the ground, which forced the officer to shoot again, killing him instantly,” Maate said in a statement.

Maate identified the deceased as Masereka Zalimoni Kyanakyibi, a resident of Maghoma village, Muramba Parish, Bugoye Sub-county

A machete was reportedly recovered at the scene.

“Right now we are heading to the deceased’s village for burial tomorrow (Saturday), but police said they will release the suspects tomorrow,” the Bugoye Sub-county LC 3 chairperson told New Vision Friday evening.

Following the incident, a joint security team comprising the UPDF and police, led by the Regional and District Police Commanders, reinforced the station and launched a canine-led search that led to Muramba II village, where four men were picked up.

They were identified as Simon Irumba, 26, Abson Kiiza, 29, a casual labourer, George Kadama, 25, a businessman, and Lenax Baluku, 28, also a casual labourer, all residents of Muramba II.

Following the incident, mixed accounts have emerged from Bugoye. Several neighbours have since said Masereka was a well-known mentally disturbed case whose mental instability had previously led him to part ways with his family.

At the time of his death, he lived alone in Kisanyarazi near the Nkenda UEDCL sub-station.

​But the assertion has also raised questions among various sections of the community.

Bugoye Sub-county LC III Chairperson. (Credit: John Thawite)

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Is there documented medical or psychiatric evidence confirming Masereka’s history of mental illness, or was his behaviour purely opportunistic criminality?

If Masereka was indeed suffering from severe psychiatric illness, does his action reflect an organised security threat, or a tragic failure to manage a vulnerable individual?

Another section of the community wonders what actually drove him to the police station, and how four local men were rounded up during a canine-led tracking operation.

Others have linked the incident to a recent aggravated robbery in Muramba

Sub-county Chairperson, Katalikawa, told residents who had thronged the crime scene early Thursday morning that unknown assailants had recently attacked an elderly woman and severely injured her arm while demanding money from coffee her husband had sold.

The attackers reportedly abandoned a motorcycle, which police impounded at Bugoye and later transferred to Kasese.

ASP Maate said police are probing all angles, including whether the recovered machete is linked to the earlier robbery and whether the deceased could have been used as a front to retrieve the impounded motorcycle.

"We are handling this with all seriousness. The forensic results and statements will clarify whether this was an organised attack or an isolated criminal act," he said.