UPDF soldier strangled to death, three arrested

A Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) soldier was on Wednesday morning found dead in Gulu Municipality after reportedly being strangled by his fellow colleagues.

Private Raphael Odokonyero, 37, a soldier attached to 76 Battalion at Bondo in Arua District was found lifeless at Kanyogoga A, Bardege Division in Gulu Municipality.

The deceased had reportedly travelled to the 4th Infantry Division headquarters in Gulu to apply for a loan, according to sources in the army.

It’s reported that prior to his death; Odokonyero was drinking alcohol with his girlfriend at a local bar in Conga Oloya Market.

The area LCI chairperson Ms Florence Atoo confirmed the death of Odokonyero, saying the body was found by residents in the morning who alerted local leaders. She said the cause of his death was still unclear.
“I was called by the locals here that a soldier was found dead, I rushed to the scene and we alerted my secretary for security. This kind of death is a shock to me, I wouldn’t want it to happen in my area,” Ms Atoo said.

Three arrested
The Aswa River Region Police Spokesperson Jimmy Patrick Okema said police carried out preliminary investigation leading to the arrest of three suspects believed to have killed the deceased.

He explained that the deceased was strangled by the assailants after a fight broke out over a woman.
He said the suspects include a UPDF soldier attached to 4th Infantry Division, another man and the woman who had accompanied the deceased to the drinking joint.

Mr Okema said the suspects are being detained at 4th infantry Division barracks as investigations continue under case vide CRB 212/2019 at Gulu Central Police Station.

The 4th infantry Division Commander Col Bonny Bamwiseki didn’t comment on the murder as he didn’t not answer our repeated calls.

By press time, the deceased’s body was being kept at the army barracks morgue awaiting post mortem test to ascertain the exact cause of death.
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