Operation Pearl Blankets

Kampala was Monday paralysed by a two-hour shoot-out between Police and robbers. Gawaya Tegulle gives a detailed report of the incident that left four dead and seven injured. The robbers were difficult to suspect because they looked like plain-clothes security personnel. They trailed their prey right from the direction of Arua Park and they moved real fast. Within a split second of blocking the Isuzu pick-up truck they had grabbed the money bag and were off. As they passed CPS, Police attention was drawn to the fact that the driver was driving real crazy - honking all the time and weaving through traffic at breakneck speed. The men in the back seat, caps hiding faces had stooped low, giving appearance of only two people in the car. But the more observant cops noticed the unmistakable muzzle of a gun sticking out of the front passenger window. The police station that had been enduring rather than enjoying another routine day finally burst into life. The radios crackled with more urgency. Officers moved fast up and down as orders were barked into the walkie-talkies: a brief description of the problem and a quick call to patrol vehicles to look out for the saloon car 702 UDS. Further examination revealed the saloon car had been stolen the previous month and its actual registration number was UAB 450R. "We suspected robbers," says Okello Makmot, Officer in charge of the anti-robbery squad in Kampala. "So we gave chase." Yusuf Lule Road By the time the robbers arrived at Yusuf Lule Road opposite the golf course and just before Kaos Restaurant, another patrol car was coming right at them. The robbers were trying to commandeer a white Corona saloon UAB 683H. When they saw the patrol car, they fired at it and at the Corona, injuring the latter's driver, Tony Mukasa, a special hire driver. At that point, four civilians were injured and two cars damaged. Industrial Area Eager to throw the cops off their trail, the robbers grabbed a lady's pick-up near Hotel Africana, abandoned the saloon car and made off once again along Old Port Bell Road, onto Fifth Street and Seventh Street in Industrial Area and finally burst into Namuwongo where real fire started. The robbers were armed with a sophisticated communication system that they used to confuse police about their whereabouts. Apparently they had close friends among several boda boda operators who kept showing the patrol cars the wrong direction - even when the police could see the runaway vehicle plainly. This, the cops say, can only mean one thing: the boda boda chaps had more than just passive interest in the robbery. They were no curious or mischievous by-standers. Around Greenhill Academy and The Monitor offices the robbers commandeered another saloon car 443 UEC and abandoned the pick-up - with their loot in it, along with glue and manilla paper that the robbers used to make some of the fake number plates. By this time the priority was not keeping the money, but escaping from police. Police paused briefly to pick up the money bag and the chase continued. Two stick grenades were hurled from the saloon car and exploded harmlessly as the chase continued. The police had hesitated and taken cover following the shooting, but curious civilians who had come running to the scene were injured. Police slowed their fire as they tried to sort out the robbers from the righteous. "The problem with Ugandans is that instead of running away from fire they run right into it," says Makmot. "That's why many were injured. For us the cops we had taken cover and were still assessing the situation when the grenades exploded." Kisugu As they reached Mutajazi area in Kisugu the saloon car tried to enter a compound - their hideout, but just then a patrol car arrived. The robbers changed plan and continued round the corner then returned, hoping the patrol had been lost. But they failed because another patrol car was approaching. This time one robber got out, fired a volley that hit the patrol car's right driving mirror. But the thugs were outnumbered, as by this time more than eight patrol cars had arrived and in the end four thugs had been killed and a policeman injured. Highlights: Several things stand out in this robbery: l First, the robbers were obviously well prepared and thoroughly practiced fellows. "From the weapons recovered these were no ordinary thieves," says Police Deputy Spokesman Eric Naigambi. "Änd the mere fact that they make daring raids in broad daylight in the middle of the city and always hit target. These were no blind attempts. All these make this what we call an organised gang, meaning they have a structure under which they operate." They had targeted big money, had big guns - five rifles, more than 200 rounds of ammunition and several grenades. l The Kisugu hideout is very much similar to another, police raided in Kabowa on May 27. Both houses had expensive sitting and dining room furnishing but no beds. Both were walled off and the compounds poorly kept and overgrown with grass. Both had one woman and several men. And also had ladders leaning against the walls at the back of the house. A knock at the door was answered by the women as the rest of the group gathered around the ladders and in case the guests turned out to be police, the getaway would be easy. "Chasing robbers is not the best job," says Makmot. "It's not easy because they carry lethal weapons. The moment they decide they have come to rob they are ready for any eventuality. That is why they resort to use of all the firepower they have. It is only the courageous cops equipped with skills that can handle them. "The only thing that always gives us advantage over robbers is that they never have reinforcements. With us we always call for reinforcement to mop up the job." l Police records show that most of the robbers have a mucky background. Many have been remanded or served sentences for robbery, while some have cases pending but they go back to rob. Many of the more sophisticated ones have a military background. They usually penetrate big businesses - especially investors. They make friends with people in the cash department; people who know how much money will be in transit, when it will move and the route they will use. One thing still baffles the police - how come that by the time they were engaging the robbers, some people were at the City Mortuary, Mulago, waiting for the bodies? ************************** Golooba, a born thief By Gawaya Tegulle Tony Golooba, gunned down after a robbery on Monday was one of the country's most wanted criminals. He was one of the masterminders of some of the most daring and brutal robberies ever witnessed in the country in recent times. l On May 14, he led the hold-up in Natete in which an Indian businessman was robbed of sh19m and a policeman killed. l On May 17, he was the man behind the robbery on Ben Kiwanuka Street in which three people, a policeman, security guard and an Indian businessman, were killed and sh60m taken. l On May 30, he led the hold-up of a taxi packed with businessmen on Mityana road, where they reaped more than sh3m. l His last mission was the Monday, June 11, robbery in the middle of the city and within full view of the police at Central Police Station when he and three or four others robbed at least sh3.4m from staff of Pearl Blankets. Golooba, in his mid 30s, is a perfect illustration of the adage that old habits die hard. Police records compiled from interviews with his villagemates reveal that he was a practicing thief right from Bigodi village in Kamwenge district. He acquired a reputation for a 'long arm' rather early in life; starting small with chicken theft and eventually graduating into the professional criminal police proved him to be. Golooba could never be accused of running away from a fight, telling the truth two days in a row, or leaving a beer bottle empty. He had a way with women and always had his arms full - even though he was thought to be married. This could help explain why one good and fruitful robbery was never enough. He robbed again and again, till death did them part. His identity first came up to the police around 1996 or 1997. But he was hard to pin down because he was ever on the move and changing names all the time. In Makerere Kivulu slum where he stayed for a while he was known as Ssalongo Mutooro. When he moved to Kisenyi slums his name changed to Kagaro. By the time the policemen's guns mowed him to the ground he was called Tonny Golooba. ends