Six police officers arrested over stolen road materials

KAMPALA.
Six police officers were among the 15 people arrested on allegations of stealing building materials for the Entebbe Express Highway.
The six officers were among a security team that had been deployed to protect the contractor’s stores from thieves.

Police spokesperson Fred Enanga confirmed the arrest of the 15 people and said they were being held on a range of offences, including theft and conspiracy.

“We suspect that there was connivance of our officers with the thieves. Investigations are ongoing to get more suspects because it appears that more people were involved. We expect to arrest more after the interrogations,” Mr Enanga said.

Police also impounded a truck which was found carrying the stolen materials and also recovered Shs1.2m from the suspects.

Entebbe Express Highway is a Shs1.19 trillion project funded by a loan from a Chinese bank. During the launch of the project in 2012, President Museveni asked security agencies to ensure safety of the construction materials on the site.

This week’s operation, which led to the arrest of the police and civilians suspects, followed several complaints by the contractor that their materials were being stolen.

The chairman of Nsangi Sub-county, Mr Abdu Kiyimba, tipped police which assembled a team to spy on the workers and the guards on the site.

At around 10pm on Thursday night, according to Mr Enanga, an empty truck entered the Entebbe Express Highway store with a group of men hired to load the materials. The truck was loaded with steel bars. The police surveillance team was monitoring every move by the thieves.

“At 1am, when the truck exited the site, our officers swung in action and intercepted it at Busega roundabout where a businessman and a driver were arrested,” Mr Enanga said.

He added that the suspects confessed they had bought the materials from workers at the Entebbe Express Highway.

Police detectives drove to the site where they arrested the police guards.

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