Police boss robbed at gunpoint, disarmed

Sep 07, 2015

The Police have arrested five suspected thugs said to be involved in three separate robberies in Kawempe division on Sunday night

By Simon Masaba

A senior police officer was robbed at gunpoint over the weekend as thugs carried out daring
missions in different areas on the outskirts of Kampala.

ASP. Ronald Higenyi, attached to the Police engineering and logistics department, had his pistol taken on Suday night when robbers waylaid him.

The Police force spokesperson, Fred Enanga, said:  "The robbers trailed Higenyi and staged a barricade prompting him to stop before they stole his pistol, registration number UP36316319, and two mobile phones," Enanga said.

Enanga said Higenyi, who was in company of his wife (names withheld) did not engage the thugs who were reportedly  armed with two AK47's, hammers and pangas.
           
Subsequently, the thugs stopped Mohammed Kalungi Kabuye in the same area and robbed him of sh1m and three mobile phones. Enanga said the Police was tracking down the phones as part of the efforts to arrest thugs.
            
Armed thugs arrested

In a related development,  the Police arrested five suspected thugs said to have been involved in three separate robberies in Kawempe division on Sunday night.

The arrests come after thugs broke into a beer depot at 10:00pm in Matuuga, on the outskirts of the city and made off with an unspecified amount of money and property estimated in millions of shillings.

Godfrey Kitanga, an eyewitness, told police that the thugs had a gateaway 'rider' and targeted cash.

"The depot reportedly collects lots of cash," he said.

Enanga said the thugs have become rampant and deadly especially in the northern part of Kampala Metropolitan (Kawempe division).

"It is a racket that has shifted its operations from the Kampala South (Makindye division) to Kawempe," he said.

Enanga said the trend has prompted the Police to deploy operatives especially 'plain clothed' ones to thwart the armed robbers. He cautioned Kawempe residents to be vigilant and report suspicious persons to the nearby security or the police.

The thugs, whose identities have not been revealed, are held in two separate detention facilities at Kira division police and Kasangati as investigations take shape.         

Police in Nsamya also arrested an armed thug linked to a Friday incident in which a city businessman was gunned down on his way home in Nsamya-Kevina, Makindye division.

The Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Patrick Onyango said the incident was orchestrated by two armed thugs travelling on a boda boda.

Aaron Owamunga, a mobile money dealer at Container Village in the heart of the city, was gunned down before thugs made off with sh15m.
 

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