Two killed in Arua Park robbery

KAMPALA. Three men have been arrested on allegations of robbing and shooting dead two South Sudanese businessmen in a hotel at Arua Park in the wee hours of Wednesday.
The deceased have been identified as Mohammed Abdullah, 30, and Ibrahim Bhakit, who died on his way to hospital.
The Kampala Metropolitan police spokesman, Mr Luke Owoyesigyire, said a pistol and seven bullets have been recovered.
“(The) two suspects are Ugandan nationals while the third is a Burundian. We are holding them on offences of aggravated robbery and murder. The pistol registration number UG PSOT1102-06A011 they used belongs to Saracen, a private security company, and it was given to one of the suspect, who is a security guard, for duties,” Mr Owoyesigyire said yesterday.
It is alleged that the suspects raided Room 1 on the Fourth Floor of Juba Hotel on Ben Kiwanuka Street where the victims were staying at around 4.30pm and robbed unspecified amount of money.
Mr Owoyesigyire said after the robbery, the suspects shot their victims and one died on the spot.
“Investigations are ongoing to ascertain whether it was an organised group or not. We are also yet to establish how much cash is missing,” he said.
According to police reports, Arua Park is one of the areas in the city centre that have several incidents of violent crimes because there are several traders that move with large sums of cash.
Criminals often target their victims very early in the morning and late in the evening when buses have just dropped passengers from northern Uganda and South Sudan.
Last month, police raided Arua Park to arrest a suspected robber, but they were pelted with stones prompting officers to fire bullets and tear gas to disperse rioters.