Police caution public on car lifts

Police have warned travellers against seeking transport from strangers in private vehicles, saying criminals use them to target their victims.

According to police, several incidents have been registered, including one murder case, three attempted murders and seven robberies.

Three victims were attacked on Entebbe Road, one murder was recorded on Katosi Road and five robberies occurred on Kampala-Mbarara road.

Mr Fred Enanga, the police spokesperson, yesterday said two suspects killed Robert Mutebi Gugwa, 33, a fisherman at Ssenyi Landing Site in Buikwe District, after giving him a lift.

“The suspects, who have since been arrested, robbed him and when he defended himself, he was strangled and the body dumped on Katosi Road at the weekend,” Mr Enanga said.

The duo was arrested on Masaka Road while driving a Toyota Mark II, which they used in the murder.
Mr Enanga said the suspects admitted to the killing, and police have preferred charges of murder against them.

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“We suspect that they are also behind similar incidents that were reported in Mbarara District when unsuspected travellers were robbed in private cars,” he said.
Mr Enanga said thugs have been luring passengers into their vehicles claiming to be travelling to upcountry stations.

“They would find you, for instance, in Kyengera and ask you whether you are going to Mbarara and unsuspecting passenger boards the vehicle. They will drive you to the direction you are going and then branch off and rob you,” he said.

In November, police arrested Baker Walusimbi, a suspected thug, for allegedly giving three women a lift from the Railway Grounds in Kampala city to Entebbe town, before robbing and threatening them with death if they told police.

Mr Walusimbi had earlier been released on bail in the murder of Moreno Nalubule, a student, and Jacqueline Najjombwe and Maria Katasi, both residents of Najjanankumbi on Entebbe Road in 2005.

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