Police nets 200 over gun
Jul 21, 2006
ABOUT 200 people were rounded up in a night swoop in the sprawling Katanga slum in Kampala as the Police launched a massive hunt for a gun robbed from a policeman.
By Steven Candia
ABOUT 200 people were rounded up in a night swoop in the sprawling Katanga slum in Kampala as the Police launched a massive hunt for a gun robbed from a policeman.
In the operation that got underway on Thursday night and was poised to continue till yesterday afternoon, heavily armed policemen descended on the slum in Wandegeya, sealed it off and carried out a door-to-door search.
About 200 policemen took part in the search-and-cordon operation that spanned more than 15 hours.
It was supervised by Kampala Police commander, Grace Turyagumanawe, backed by Wandegeya police chief Lauben Mbamanya.
But the operations did not yield the desired results as by 11:00am yesterday, the gun and the thugs had not been found.
The operation brought together regular police, the mobile police patrol unit (MPPU) and operatives from the Violent Crime Crack Unit (VCCU).
“We are hunting for two thugs who attacked our policeman and took off with our gun,†Turyagumanawe said.
The 200 suspects, who Turyagumanawe said comprised of suspicious elements, were ferried in lorries to the nearby Wandegeya Police Station, pending screening.
The swoop was sparked off by a 7:45pm incident on Buganda Road when two thugs ambushed a policeman returning from guard duty at Crested Towers and took off with his gun.
The policeman, who was returning to Wandegeya police station, is said to have wrestled with his assailants for up to 10 minutes before he was hit at the back of his head with an axe.
With the AK 47 rifle in their possession, the thugs are said to have dashed towards the ministry of public service offices, where they fired a shot in the air upon realising that the policeman was following them.
The thugs then fled towards Old Mulago road, entered a roadside garage, jumped over a low perimeter wall and mingled with the public.
ABOUT 200 people were rounded up in a night swoop in the sprawling Katanga slum in Kampala as the Police launched a massive hunt for a gun robbed from a policeman.
In the operation that got underway on Thursday night and was poised to continue till yesterday afternoon, heavily armed policemen descended on the slum in Wandegeya, sealed it off and carried out a door-to-door search.
About 200 policemen took part in the search-and-cordon operation that spanned more than 15 hours.
It was supervised by Kampala Police commander, Grace Turyagumanawe, backed by Wandegeya police chief Lauben Mbamanya.
But the operations did not yield the desired results as by 11:00am yesterday, the gun and the thugs had not been found.
The operation brought together regular police, the mobile police patrol unit (MPPU) and operatives from the Violent Crime Crack Unit (VCCU).
“We are hunting for two thugs who attacked our policeman and took off with our gun,†Turyagumanawe said.
The 200 suspects, who Turyagumanawe said comprised of suspicious elements, were ferried in lorries to the nearby Wandegeya Police Station, pending screening.
The swoop was sparked off by a 7:45pm incident on Buganda Road when two thugs ambushed a policeman returning from guard duty at Crested Towers and took off with his gun.
The policeman, who was returning to Wandegeya police station, is said to have wrestled with his assailants for up to 10 minutes before he was hit at the back of his head with an axe.
With the AK 47 rifle in their possession, the thugs are said to have dashed towards the ministry of public service offices, where they fired a shot in the air upon realising that the policeman was following them.
The thugs then fled towards Old Mulago road, entered a roadside garage, jumped over a low perimeter wall and mingled with the public.