Police kill 2 in Kampala bank robbery

By Eddie Ssejjoba 
                    
The Police have shot dead two suspected thugs during a mid-morning robbery on vehicle carrying money from a Micro-finance bank in Kololo.

The incident, according to police, occurred at about 11.30am on Monday near Kololo Airstrip, a few meters from the Housing Finance Bank headquarters.

The police, following a tip off, had deployed its armed personnel in a car that was supposed to carry officials of the Top Finance Company Limited that were taking an unspecified amount of money for banking.

The officer in charge Criminal Investigations at Jinja Road police, Ronald Kabogere who was at the scene confirmed the incident and said police opened fire at two men who had robbed money from the car occupants.

He identified the deceased as Zubair Tweheyo, said to be a special hire driver who has been operating near the bank and Badru Kasekende.

Tweheyo was shot twice in the left arm, in the side and leg and fell in the middle of the road. The police picked the bodies and took them to the city mortuary.

Their accomplice, one Abubakar Ali, a bodaboda rider was arrested after he surrendered to the police during the shooting.

Bodaboda riders operating near the Housing Finance said they knew Tweheyo as a special hire driver who normally drives a red car but this time was driving a different car he could have hired.  

According to Kabogere, the robbers had earlier on contacted the Top Finance driver who normally drives bank officials as they take cash for banking.

He said the driver, instead tipped his bosses who also contacted the police that advised the bank management to carry shs2million in the bag and planted armed men in the car.

A bodaboda rider who also operates within the area was said to be constantly on phone communicating with the robbers and soon after the vehicle emerged from the bank, they followed it.

“The robbers blocked the road and one moved out with a harmer and asked the occupants to open, when they declined he smashed the windscreen and grabbed the bag from a female official identified as Dorothy and tried to take off,” Kabogere said.

The police inside the vehicle opened fire as the robbers fled with the loot, killing two on the spot and recovered the money from them.

The police searched the car boot and recovered two harmers, bow arrows stained with blood, masks used to disguise during robbery missions, an axe and bank cards for Pride Bank.

 During the shooting, the police deflated the car tyres of the Nadia vehicle with registration numbers, UAM 290X.  

Ali was being detained at Jinja Road police and Kabogere said he would be charged with aggravated robbery. The vehicle was also driven to the police as investigations into the whole robbery mission started.

Police wants to establish where the robbers had connections to other people yet to be arrested.

Kabogere advised people carrying huge sums of money to always seek for police escort because such incidents were becoming common.