JINJA, UGANDA: Police in Jinja are holding five suspected thugs arrested on allegations of bank theft and conning people from different parts of the country.
The suspects who are currently detained at Jinja Central Police Station in Jinja City include; Fred Nsereko, 39, a resident of Kireka in Kampala and the gang driver, Ian Ssozi, 49, of Mityana district, and Lawrence Ssali, 49, aka Lule, of Bukomansimbi.
Others are John Akugizibwe, 36, aka Musabe Francis of Bunyangabu district and Danson Romba, 33, aka Byamukama Ronald.
According to Kiira Region Police spokesperson SP James Mubi, the gang which was arrested on Thursday, June 29, was fond of major robberies in banks where they would roam around the banking institutions and start trailing victims with the intention to steal their money.
“They roam around banks in major cities of the country and start trailing victims with the intention to steal them. They also plant spies in banks,” SP Mubi said in a Thursday statement.
Mubi says the group would as well resort to using fake motor-vehicle number plates which they keep on changing from time to time as well as changing their clothes to beat security.
“..they also make fake motor-vehicle number plates and keep on changing them from time to time. They also change clothes as a means of trying to beat security,” he added.
In one of the incidents reported, Mubi says on June 22, the suspects allegedly robbed someone of 24 million shillings which prompted police to review their CCTV cameras to trace them until they succeeded in arresting them from Kampala with an assortment of stolen items and cash amounting to sh2.98m.
“On June 22, 2023, the suspects robbed a gentleman of 24 million shillings. We used our CCTV cameras to trace them until we arrested them in Kampala with suspected stolen phones and cash of 2,980,000=,” Mubi as he displayed the number plates which were retrieved from the car that police impounded.
In a separate interview with DailyExpress, SP Mubi revealed that the suspects upon arrested attempted to bribe the police officers on duty by giving them sh2.98m but the officers declined to involve in the scandalous act and proceeded to exhibit the money.
“They wanted to bribe officers on duty that out of 24m shillings, they were left with 2,980,000= which they beseeched officers to take but their request was declined and we have now exhibited the money,” SP Mubi told DailyExpress.
Meanwhile, SP Mubi has warned the public against involving in unlawful acts saying that the police are strongly alert to safeguard the public against criminality and called upon the general public to feed police with leading information which can assist them in weeding out criminals from the population for a secure environment.
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