Man strangled to death over Shs2m debt

Police in Luuka District are hunting for three people who allegedly killed a sugarcane farmer by strangling at Kimanto Village in Bukanga Sub County over a reportedly Shs2 million debt.

The assailants are reported to have attacked Denis Bawa on Wednesday night at about 8.30pm as he returned home.

The LC1 secretary for defence for Kimanto Village, Godfrey Nkwanga, on Thursday said the attackers were riding on a motorcycle and after their mission, they disappeared into a nearby sugarcane plantation.

"The deceased was returning from Kimanto Trading Centre where he had bought a kilogram of meat to welcome the New Year," Mr Nkwanga said.

Family members suspect Bawa to have been attacked by some people who have been threatening him over a sugarcane debt.

Mr Lulenti Bawa, the father of the deceased, said his son had harvested one of the resident’s sugarcane and had not cleared the money they had agreed on.

“He had a debt of Shs2m for sugarcanes he cut and the owner has been threatening to harm him; we suspect this to have caused his death,” Mr Lulenti said.

Police from Nakabugu Police Station in Luuka District rushed to the scene and started investigations immediately.

The body was taken to Luuka Health Centre IV for a post mortem, after which police authorised his burial.

The deputy officer-in-charge of Criminal Investigations at Nakabugu Police Station, Mr Geoffrey Wanyama, asked residents to work with police to have the perpetrators arrested.

He, however, warned them against taking the law into their hands.