By Police said Wednesday that an AK47 that was grabbed from one of their officers at the Division Head Quarters check point at Nsangi in Wakiso District on May 29 this year has been used in at least four mobile money shop raids across the country.
This was after six suspects were arrested Tuesday night by the Flying Squad Unit operatives who reportedly tracked down armed robbers who on June 19, 2023 raided a mobile money shop and soda depot in Mubende District before making off with unspecified amount of money.
The three gunmen riding on a motorcycle also shot and killed Cpl Joseph Olaya, one of the officers who attempted to pursue them after the heist.
“The Directorate of Crime Intelligence in partnership with Nsangi Police, have successfully tracked down an armed gang of robbers who target mobile money operators. This follows an intensive operation carried out by our flying Squad Unit, which recovered the police AK 47 riffle which was grabbed from a police officer of Nsangi Division on May 29, 2023,” police spokesperson, Fred Enanga said in a Wednesday afternoon statement.
According to him, “as the officer disembarked from a boda boda near the Division HQ check point at Nsangi, criminals ridding on motorcycles arrived, grabbed the weapon and sped off.”
Since then, the police have registered four mobile money raids, including attempted murder by shooting of one of the victims who tried to make an alarm.
“Police registered an armed robbery in Mubende, as depicted by a CCTV footage that went viral on social media and the murder of a police officer of Kassanda CPL Olaya Joseph who was part of the team that attempted to intercept the group as they fled on motorcycles from the scene. The suspects also grabbed a gun magazine belonging the deceased,” Mr Enanga said.
Six suspects have been arrested and the motor vehicle which they have been using in the robberies also recovered.
“We have since established from our analysis interrogations and critical examination of the different scenes that the recovered gun was the same one used in different robberies recently by this racket. Further investigations are ongoing and we wish to reassure the public that all the criminals targeting mobile money dealers shall be brought to book, anyone with useful information is encouraged to share it with the nearest police station,” Mr Enanga said following the robberies that have cause panic and anxiety among traders who deal in huge sums of money around the country.
While presiding over plenary, the Speaker Anita Among on Wednesday afternoon also decried the rampant cases of mobile money shop raids and asked the Prime Minister, Robinah Nabbanja to make a follow-up and establish why the cases are on the increase.
