How police tracked mobile money gang
Deployment. Police officers at the crime scene in Zzana on Entebbe road where gunmen robbed a mobile money agent, killing two people last week. Photo by Joseph Kiggundu
What you need to know:
- Mr Enanga said police obtained further information that the two suspects resided in an apartment in Masanafu in Rubaga Division
Kampala. A month ago, Ms Sanyu Nalukwago, a mobile money agent in Nateete, Kampala, was waylaid by armed robbers at Kajjansi on Entebbe Road as she drove to her home. They fired bullets and robbed her of Shs16m before they sped off in their car.
The suspects’ car, a Toyota Wish, was captured by CCTV cameras in Kajjansi, sparking an intensive investigation that led to arrest of three suspects and recovery of three AK47 guns.
A police report indicated that Kampala Metropolitan Police detectives tracked the owner of the car and upon interrogation, the detectives established that a gang allegedly led by a one Denis Magusho and Emma Onenchan, both deserters of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces, were in possession of the vehicle on the fateful day.
Police spokesperson Fred Enanga said they also established the suspects had a previous criminal record as they had been released from Luzira prison in April on similar criminal charges. They were facing charges of robbing a city bank in 2015.
Mr Enanga said police obtained further information that the two suspects resided in an apartment in Masanafu in Rubaga Division.
The detectives raided the residence where they arrested a one Stanley Muluuta and recovered two AK47 guns after a shootout with the suspects.
However, Muluuta’s colleague Richard Kasirye, a UPDF soldier, escaped arrest and is still on the run.
Police say upon interrogation, Muluuta said he had been working with Magusho and Onenchan in previous robberies, including the attack where Raphael Walugembe, a student, was killed in Lungujja while robbing a mobile money agent on May 16.
Last week, gunmen also robbed a mobile money shop in Zzana on Entebbe road, killing two people.
Police compared the cartridges picked from all the scenes and established a link between the attacks.
They found that the same gang raided the mobile money shop in Zzana on the same day the police had a shootout with the gunmen at the Masanafu residence.
Muluuta also said his colleagues were planning another robbery in Mutukula in Rakai District, which prompted police to do pre-emptive operation and waylaid Magusho and Onenchan.
“We are holding the three suspects on three counts of murder, five counts of robbery, attempted murder and illegal possession of firearms,” Mr Enanga said.
Police found that the guns belong to the UPDF but had been stolen.
