Police bust racket, recover AK-47 rifle

Security operatives in Busia District have recovered a gun suspected to have been stolen from police after conducting an operation against armed criminals.
The gun, an AK-47 rifle, plus 25 rounds of live ammunition, was recovered at Bondani Ward in Busia Township, following a week of cross-border operation stretching from Uganda to Kenya.
Mr Eriya Elepot, the Busia District Police Commander, on Tuesday said: “It is true we have recovered one gun and arrested six people who are suspected to be behind violent crime at the border.”

The suspects are Asuman Balikoowa Mutyama, alias Kapere, Nuhu Ouma, Umar Muyima, Erisa Sulfa Nabwe, Swaibu Abdu Kayigo, and Edwin Asiimwe.
Mr Elepot added that the gun was found in an isolated house in Busia-Kenya, which had been rented by the robbers.
Police also recovered a stolen motorcycle, various SIM cards, ATM cards, masks, jackets, and metallic instruments.
He further revealed that two of the suspects were picked from Dabani Hospital Ward where one of them had been admitted with a deep wound sustained following a disagreement among gang members.

“We wondered why he had gone to hospital without reporting to police after being stabbed, but when we arrested him together with his accomplice, they led us to the recovery of a gun,” Mr Elepot said.
The gun belongs to the Uganda Police Force. “We are ascertaining how they [thugs] came to acquire a police gun and whether it is one of our guns that went missing from our facilities,” Mr Elepot said.

Over the past three years, police in Busia have lost two guns following an attack on police posts.
The first incident was at Sofia Police Station where criminals, who disguised as clients, had come to report a case but shot at the officer on duty before taking his gun.
The second incident happened last year when criminals attacked a police lady at Solo Community Police Post and made off with her gun.
There have been other cases of guns being stolen in Nyangole in Tororo, Iganga, Mbale, and several other police installations in the country.

Mr John Nyoike, the Busia-Kenya County police boss, said there has been a series of murders by shooting and robberies in various parts the county.
Mr Nyoike said the gun is suspected to have been used in different shooting incidents in Bugenge Ward, Mundika Routes Pub, the abduction of a businessman, and several other high profile robberies.
“This is a Ugandan gun but we are going to hold it until experts establish whether it has been used for criminal activities in Kenya,” he said.
According to Mr Nyoike, the criminals have revealed that they have accomplices in Bugiri, Busia-Kenya, Bungoma, Kisumu and Western Kenya.

Mr Balikoowa, alias Kapere, was in 2016 found in possession of a gun belonging to the UPDF after being arrested by operatives of the Police Flying Squad.
Police said the suspects would be transferred to Kampala where they will be arraigned before the court martial. “We have arrested some of them several times and we feel they should be arraigned before the court martial,” Mr Elepot said.
Busia has a porous border that stretches 57 kilometres from Majanji to River Malaba, which is rarely manned by security operatives, making the circulation of small arms across the two East African countries a common crime.
However, over the past one week, police in Uganda and Kenya have carried out joint operations in Bungoma, Busia-Kenya and Kisumu in Kenya; Bugiri and various parts of Busia Town.

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