KAMPALA– Two suspected criminals, who were lynched at the weekend, were found with a police pistol in Katwe, a Kampala suburb.
Kampala Metropolitan police spokesperson Luke Owoyesigyire said that the two suspected criminals were beaten to death after being caught red-handed trying to rob but one of them was found with a Uganda police a star pistol with serial number UG PSO 0074 28 08 236 01988 with 15 rounds of live ammunition.
“Katwe Police station received information that two men were killed by mob at Masajja ‘B’ zone, Makindye Ssabagabo Wakiso District. This was after the two deceased persons and two others who managed to escape broke into the fence of one Senoga Hamidu a resident of the same area. The scene was visited, two dead bodies of male adults surrounded by stones were found at the scene. A star Pistol No. UG PSO 0074 28 08 236 01988 with 15 rounds of live ammunition was recovered from one of the killed thugs,” Mr Owoyesigyire said.
Other exhibits recovered from the murder scene included a National identity card in the name of Abdu Karim Islam. The two dead bodies were taken to Mulago city mortuary for postmortem as police conduct investigation to establish there would be accomplices.
Records at the Flying Squad Unit (FSU) of the police show several street teenagers have often been used in murders and aggravated robberies in Kampala, Wakiso, and Mukono.
Last year, Daily Monitor reported
that cases of armed robberies and murders, especially targeting special hire taxi drivers, mobile money operators, hardware, financial institutions, and wholesale shops, have been executed by street teenagers who do surveillance for criminals and they are paid a fee of Shs50,000 each permission.
A police detective, who shared the information, said 70 percent of murders or robberies carried out in Kampala have involved street teenagers aged between 16 and 19 on promise of accommodation or payment worth Shs50,000.