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Traffic officer shot over towing wreckage of UPDF vehicle involved in accident
What you need to know:
- Police Constable Robert Mukebezi was shot and injured as he attempted to tow a UPDF vehicle that was involved in an accident on Kira road.
- The soldiers allegedly dragged the bleeding officer out of the vehicle and dumped him on the ground before ordering the driver of the breakdown to drive the wreckage to Mbuya.
A traffic officer was on Sunday morning shot by suspected Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) soldiers who tried to block police from towing a military vehicle that was involved in an accident on Kira road, Kampala.
A source told Monitor that the traffic officer, Police Constable Robert Mukebezi, was seated on the passenger side of a breakdown truck that was towing a military Toyota Prado TX that had knocked a signpost of Kobil fuel station when they were intercepted by soldiers in a double cabin vehicle with military license plates at Ntinda traffic lights at around 6am.
He told police that the soldiers emerged from a double cabin and first shot in the air.
The soldiers then asked them where they were towing the military vehicle to, and they responded "to the police."
One of the soldiers then discharged several bullets on the passenger side of the breakdown injuring Constable Mukebezi in the leg, sources told this publication.
The soldiers allegedly dragged the bleeding officer out of the vehicle and dumped him on the ground before ordering the driver of the breakdown to drive the wreckage to Mbuya.
PC Mukebezi was later picked by the police and taken to Mulago National Referral Hospital Mulago in Kampala City where he is said to be in critical condition after losing a lot of blood.
Kampala Metropolitan Police deputy spokesman Luke Owoyesigyire confirmed the shooting of their officer by "unidentified persons dressed in military fatigue" who alighted from a military vehicle.
"The investigations are ongoing to establish the shooter," Assistant Superintendent of Police Owoyesigyire said.
Military car knocks signpost
Eyewitnesses who spoke to this reporter say the accident happened at around 5am when the driver of the military vehicle lost control and knocked the signpost of Kobil.
The occupants, who the eyewitnesses told police that they were drunk, abandoned the vehicle at the scene.
Responders informed the police which assigned PC Mukebezi to visit the scene and tow the vehicle to the police station.
According to a source, PC Mukebezi hired a breakdown vehicle that towed the wreckage, but when they reached Ntinda traffic lights, they were intercepted by the soldier driving in a double cabin with military license plates.
The source said before they could explain where they were towing the vehicle to, they were shot at, injuring a police officer.