Police bust machete-wielding gang

Police have bust a criminal gang that has been terrorising travellers in Rubaga and Kampala Central divisions.
The gang, who are armed with machetes, have been robbing travellers on major roads in the two divisions. The most affected roads include Ring Road, Mackay Road, Nateete and parts of Rubaga. 
According to the police, the gang has been operating very early in the morning and late in the evening targeting people going to and returning from work.

Police said although they received several reports about the gang, they hadn’t been successful in tracking them down for more than five months until this month. 
In an interview with Daily Monitor on Friday, Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Patrick Onyango said they used Crime Intelligence Units to track down the gang.
He said eight suspects were arrested. 
“They were arrested in Kawempe Division where they have been residing. We also recovered the machetes and motorcycles they have been using in the violent robberies,” Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Onyango said.
SSP Onyango said they recovered some of the stolen items from the suspects’ homes.
“We thank our Crime Intelligence teams and Nateete Police Station leadership for cracking down on this group that had made the ring road and other roads in Rubaga Division unsafe,” he said.

Police said the criminals, who were travelling on motorcycles, would stop and surround their victims. They would then threaten to harm them if they didn’t hand over their valuables and flee the scene on their motorcycles when they got what they wanted. 
A source at Nateete Police Station said their deployments in the hotspots didn’t yield fruit.
However, their luck run out when they attacked a Kyambogo University female student and robbed her of her mobile phones and money on February 18. 
“Luckily, there was a patrol car nearby. The officers reached the scene, but the criminals escaped. During the chase, the criminals abandoned their motorcycle, which was exhibited and used to get their background,” the source said. 
The crime intelligence officers used CCTV cameras to track down where the motorcycle had been before. 

“After several months of eluding us, we managed to trace these assailants to Nkere Zone, Kawempe Division. Eight of them were arrested. They admitted to the crimes that have been taking place in the areas of Namungoona, Lubiri and Mengo in Rubaga Division,” the source said. 
Detectives established that the gang was using three other motorcycles to commit the crimes. 
The Officer-in-Charge at Nateete Police Station, Mr Hassan Ssekalema, said since the arrest of the suspects, the number of reports regarding crimes of that nature has reduced.