Thursday , November 7 2024

Police recover gun after thugs break into Buloba factory

FILE PHOTO: Kampala Metropolitan police spokesperson, Luke Owoyesigyire

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Police have this morning recovered a gun dropped at a factory robbed by armed thugs at Buloba township in Wakiso district.

Deputy Kampala Metropolitan police spokesperson, Luke Owoyesigyire, said police acted on a robbery alert at MMACKS Investments and recovered a Semi Automated Rifle –SAR with serial number UG POL 10113522 loaded with three bullets.

Owoyesigyire said it all started when six thugs in number attacked MMACKS factory in wee hours of Wednesday morning. The attackers who included one woman were also armed with pangas and breaking implements overpowered the security guard Godfrey Rwabyoma.

The robbed factory that deals in maize processing and textile, is located at Kiwesa village, Buloba Parish, Wakiso Subcounty, along Kampala –Mityana highway.

“They disarmed a private security guard who was on duty from Security Plus (U) Ltd one Rwabyoma. They broke into factory offices and robbed Cash 1,150,000 million shillings, a computer and mobile phones of some workers who were on duty,” said Owoyesigyire.

Buloba police officers who responded after receiving information shot one thug. Police identified the shot thug as, Joseph Tamale whose upper right arm was shuttered by the bullets.

“Tamale is aged 25 years and he is a Bodaboda rider. We have established that he is a resident of Kisenyi. He is currently admitted at J and M medical center in Buloba but the other thugs took off with robbed items,” said Owoyesigyire.

Advertisement

It is not clear how the thugs ended up using a police gun in a robbery. However, several robbery incidents conducted in Kampala, Wakiso and Mukono areas have involved use of guns from government security agencies.

In February this year, police killed one armed thug in Kabalagala who had robbed an old woman Nakusoke Najjemba at Kitende in Kajjansi Division. A police gun was recovered from the killed thug.

A 2018 report by the police Flying Squad Unit (FSU) showed that 11 out of 20 guns recovered from the criminals belonged to the Uganda People’s Defence Forces -UPDF, while five were from the Uganda Prisons Service and three from Uganda Police Force -UPF.

FSU report further revealed that operations unearthed a Semi-Automated Rifle (SAR) and an army uniform in Kampala North (Kawempe), an army bag and uniform were recuperated in Entebbe.

*****

URN

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *