Woman arrested over kidnap of pupil, police hunts for more suspects

What you need to know:

  • Mr Muhangi said police rushed to the Airtel call centre and obtained a printout of the latest people she had contacted and continued monitoring her movements.
  • The police have cautioned the parents not to speak to the media as this could jeopardise investigations since they suspect there could have been some connivance by close friends or family members.

KAMPALA. Police in Kampala are holding a woman over

Police quiz teachers as hunt for 6-year-old schoolgirl intensifies

A member of the family, Mr Simon Munywevu, declined to discuss the matter for fear of jeopardizing investigations, but the Spokesperson of the Police in Kampala Metropolitan area, Mr Emilian Kayima said that experts in child related crime are on the case

, the 6-year-old girl who went missing on Tuesday from Green Hill Academy, Buwaate Campus.
Police Flying Squad Commandant Hebert Muhangi, who coordinated the hunt for the suspected kidnappers, confirmed they had arrested a female whom they tricked into using mobile money to receive the ransom money.

He said police monitored the suspect’s movements after a phone call she made to the little girl’s parents asking for a ransom.
Mr Muhangi said police rushed to the Airtel call centre and obtained a printout of the latest people she had contacted and continued monitoring her movements.
Kampala Metropolitan Police deputy spokesperson Paul Kangave said the police advised the parents to send the money in instalments of Shs1 million to buy time.
“We guided the parents to send the money because we feared the kidnappers could kill the girl in case money was not sent in time. That could have been a failure on our side,” he said on Thursday.

According to the police, the kidnaper first kept the girl near a taxi stage in Kyebando, a Kampala suburb, in the morning hours and then moved her to another location in the afternoon before being arrested from the city centre as she was taking the child to Ntinda upon receiving the Shs4 million ransom. The suspect first withdrew Shs100,000.
“The suspect told the parents they would pick up the child from Ntinda but on our satellite we saw her coming towards the city centre. We continued monitoring the vehicle movement until we arrested her with the child in a taxi on Kampala Road,” he said.
Mr Muhangi said police have since learnt that the child was picked up by two people; a woman and a man who is still on the run. He said they suspect it was a racket of about four to five people given the fact that several contacts were made to different people in a very short period.

The police have cautioned the parents not to speak to the media as this could jeopardise investigations since they suspect there could have been some connivance by close friends or family members.
Police have vowed to charge the school administration for negligence saying this would serve as lesson to other negligent school heads.
“There was laxity on the side of school management. We shall start arresting teachers as first suspects and would be charged with conspiracy,” he said.