CCTV pins Police Constable in attempted robbery of Shs 7 billion

Godfrey Saka’s home in Kasangati was raided on February 17 by six men armed with machetes. Police constable Joshua Mugoya was promised a ‘cut’ Shs 500m from the robbery.

Constable Joshua Mugoya and his alleged accomplices have been on the police’s wanted list since last month. The quintuple is now in custody after they were arrested by crime intelligence under the command of Thomas Kasimo.

Saka’s home was raided by a group of six men armed with machetes and fence cutters on the night of February 17. The attackers cut the fence and scaled over the perimeter wall. The suspects violently assaulted Saka’s wife, Kevin Uwera and a wife to the security guard Bernard Batre.

Uwera and Batre in their statements indicated that the robbers demanded $2 million amounting to over Shs 7 billion claiming that it had been left in the house by Saka who wasn’t home at the time.

“We said we did not know the money they were talking about. They responded by beating and cutting us. They had pangas and others sharp object,” Uwera said.

The attackers ransacked the house but failed to locate the money, making off with a few items they could lay their hands on. Police upon being alerted about the incident retrieved the hidden CCTV cameras at the house and security cameras in the areas.

Among the group captured by CCTV, police saw someone resembling constable Mugoya. The crime intelligence team decided to track the movements of Mugoya and established that he’d been meeting the group sighted in the footage. Luke Owoyesigyire, the deputy Kampala Metropolitan police spokesperson, said Mugoya was arrested after it was established that he was part of the robbery scheme.

“It was established that the scheme to rob Saka’s house was orchestrated by Mugoya a police officer attached to Kasangati police station,” Owoyesigyire said.

Mugoya, according to crime intelligence, was approached by Moses Ruhindi, who convinced him how he was going to get rich in just hours if he accepted to be part of their plan to rob $2 million. Ruhindi, in his statement also pins a one Muzeyi and a friend to Saka for planning the deal. Muzeyi told Ruhindi, that he heard Saka talking about the money in his house.

Police investigations have revealed that when Mugoya was told that he would get more than Shs 500 million if the robbery succeeded, he accepted to participate. Mugoya also looked for other three bodied and known criminals with whom they raided the home.

“Investigations have shown that Joshua [Mugoya] later got in touch with other criminals like Galiwango Ali aka Kapafu and Juuko Patrick. The three Ruhindi, Mugoya and Muzeyi later met at a bar in Kasangati where they concluded the robbery plan,” Owoyesigyire said.

The group has since allegedly confessed to having been part and parcel of the raid and robbery at Saka’s home. Crime intelligence is currently looking for one other accomplice, Wasswa Hakim, who is still at large.

The mode and style of robbery, crime intelligence says is similar to other robberies that happened in other places of Kasangati and Kawempe. Mugoya’s arrest comes at the time when the police professional standards unit (PSU) headed by Sarah Kibwika is expected to release a list of more than 100 police officers going to be dismissed over corruption, bribery and robbery.

Source: URN