Security busts car robbery suspects

The Police Flying Squad unit has busted a racket of notorious car thieves who had reportedly stolen 14 cars in a period of 90 days within the Kampala Metropolitan area.

The stolen cars were from the areas of Mukono, Seeta, Kampala and Entebbe in Wakiso district, Godwin Tumuramye, the Flying Squad commandant, said.

Tumuramye said they started the operation in August after a number of people, especially from Mukono, complained about the rampant car thefts in the area.

"We mounted an operation where we arrested four prime suspects," Tumuramye said.

Car theft

He identified the suspects as: Gideon Namanya alias Tumusiime Kanyankore, a resident of Kitega zone, Mukono Municipality; Abdul Karim Ndimukaga, a resident of Munyonyo in Makindye division; William Ssali alias Byarugaba Kikumi, a resident of Lungujja in Lubaga Municipality; and John Wandera, a resident of Kalagi in Mukono district.

All suspects arrested are in their youthful age and are muscular, Tumuramye said, adding that they work with other people who are still at large and some of them operate car bonds where the stolen clients.

According to security operatives, the racket members employ a tactic of jumping over people's perimeter walls at night and break into the cars before they drive them out.

"Most of the cars that were stolen were from Mukono, Seeta, Entebbe and at Ring Road near Kabaka's palace in Kampala were from people's fences," Tumuramye said.

He identified some of the cars that were stolen as Toyota Mark II Grande registration number UAT 502T, a Toyota Canter (UBG 002G), and Toyota Nadia (UAR 356N).

"All these vehicles were stolen from Mukono and Police intercepted them at Abdul Karim Ndimukaga's home at Kitega zone, Mukono Municipality. A case was reported at Mukono Police Station vide CRB 122/2020," the Flying Squad boss said.

Other stolen cars include; a Toyota Vista registration number UAQ 066R, a Toyota Premio (UAQ 446W), Toyota Wish (UBD 190Y) and Toyota Premio (UAM 143P), which was stolen from Ring Road in Lubaga, and a case was reported at Old Kampala Police Station as CRB 765/2020.

Tumuramye said the suspects would also use a tactic of pushing the vehicles out of the perimeter walls and they start the engines a distance away from the owners' homes.

"They would also break into cars parked by the roadside and drive them away. After stealing the cars, they tamper with the chassis and engine numbers, but our forensics team has all the expertise to trace and recover the original numbers," he said.

He warned car dealers who give out number plates of old cars sold as spare parts to car thieves, who use them on stolen cars before they sell them to unsuspecting members of the public.

"We are working closely with Uganda Revenue Authority to ascertain the real owners of some of the cars we have managed to recover," Tumuramye said.

The suspected car thieves have a many files against them at Mukono, Old Kampala and other Police stations.

Earlier car robbery cases

The arrest of this gang comes hardly three months after Police, at the end of September, busted another notorious racket of car-jackers who were reportedly behind the kidnap and murder of truck drivers before they robbed their vehicles.

Seven of the gang members were arrested in an operation led by the police's Flying Squad Unit.

According to operatives, the suspects confessed to kidnapping at least six truck drivers and robbing them of their trucks, before driving them through Arua and selling them to DR Congo.