Police seal highway, detain 8 in Kasese

KASESE. There was confusion in Kasese Town on Thursday as police sealed off the Kasese–Fort Portal highway at Nyakasanga Bridge close to two hours to intercept a vehicle with Kenyan registration number plates they suspected to be carrying “suspicious people”.
When a Toyota Land Cruiser SUV approached the bridge, armed police officers quickly stopped it and arrested four of its occupants before impounding the car.

The four were whisked off to Kasese Central Police Station amid heavy security. Three of the detained are Kenyan nationals while one is a Congolese.
The Rwenzori region police spokesperson, Mr Bakali Bashir Muga, confirmed the arrest.
“We have four suspected wrong people who have been wanted by police and their vehicle… The occupants were travelling to Beni, DR Congo,” Mr Muga said.
The incident comes at the time when security both in Kenya and Uganda has been heightened following threats and attacks of terrorism.

In a related development, four Kasese residents have been arrested on similar allegations but Mr Muga declined to comment on them, saying it was too early to associate them with the other suspects since they had not yet been interrogated.
“It is also true that some other people have been arrested but it is too early for me to connect them to the first suspects since police has not yet interrogated them about the matter,” Mr Muga said.
A source close to security in Kasese said some suspects were of Somali origin and the rest are believed to be Kenyans and Ugandans.
On Easter eve, police also impounded a vehicle that was abandoned at Ataco Country Resort in Kasese Town. Its occupants could not be traced.

Headed to Kampala
Rwenzori region police spokesperson Bakali Bashir Muga declined to mention the offence upon which they arrested the suspects who were travelling in the vehicle but said Rwenzori police would move them to Kampala for better management.

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