By Andrew Irumba
Kampala: A gang of thugs exchanged fire with policemen in Masanafu, a city suburb on Tuesday, injuring one of the cops before fleeing.
The policeman who was shot at (names withheld on request), is currently nursing gunshot wounds he sustained after being shot in the leg by one of the thugs. While briefing the media about the incident on Tuesday afternoon, Patrick Onyango, the Kampala Metropolitan police spokesman said that; “The constable was injured by a bullet released by thugs during an operation against suspected criminal who was hiding in a house in Kinonya zone, in Masanafu in Lubaga Division in Kampala.” Onyango added that “The police recovered two Submachine Guns (SMGs), two magazines loaded with 30 rounds of ammunition and vehicle number plate UAM 046J from the home of Stanley Mulinde, the suspected mastermind of the criminal gang.” According to Police, one of the suspected thugs identified as Richard Kasirye escaped, while another was arrested and is in custody at Old Kampala Police Station.
Following the operation, the Police have urged members of the public to volunteer information that will lead to the arrest of Richard Kasirye and they have promised a reward to whoever helps them arrest him. Onyango however declined to divulge details of the suspects who are in detention, saying it would jeopardize investigations. This however comes a few days after two police officers being killed in Elgon region during a fire exchange with thugs last month, while three others survived with injuries. It also came a few hours after armed thugs had ambushed two female mobile money dealers in Zzana, along Entebbe Road, who they shot dead, before robbing an unspecified amount of money from them.
