A police officer attached to Jinja Road Police Station has been arrested for selling a gun to Peter Ongomo, ill-famed for his poaching acitivities in Murchison National Park.
Andrew Opiyo, the police officer, sold the gun to Ongomo at Shs2 million.
"Ongomo asserted that he was connected to the Police Officer (Seller) by his brother-in-law called Akona Fred, a resident of Naguru Kampala in 2016," Charles Twiine Mansio, the spokesperson of the Criminal Investigations Directorate, said in a statement.
"Following this revelation, PC Opiyo Andrew Steven, attached to Jinja Road Police Station and CPL Emaru Richard, the In-Charge armory at Jinja Road were arrested and interrogated accordingly."
Twine says the duo denied the allegations but investigators have clearly established that the gun as revealed by Opiyo is a Police gun that was signed fraudulently by a hoax name at Jinja Road Police Station, unfortunately, destined to the hands of criminals.
Ongomo is among the five suspects that were arrested by a joint security team commanded by Col. Allan Kyagungu and D/ACP Olugu Francis, Ag. CP General Crimes, which was dispatched to Oyam and Nwoya on July 29.
The group is part of a gang of notorious poachers in the area, which has been using illegal guns not only used for poaching but also in terrorizing the people especially travelers along Kampala-Pakwach-Arua Road.
They also conducted robberies in some homesteads.
"Intelligence reports indicated that the poaching in the Murchison national park was highly organized involving various people that connive to commit the crime and even dealing in the illicit trafficking of wildlife species," reads a statement from CID.
During the course of the operation, the joint team was also able to identify and profile some people who are in possession of illegal guns and these culprits are vigorously being pursued.
Police say the recovered guns are going to be examined with the view of among other things to establish whether they have been used at any other murder cases that have been reported and scenes of crime examined by the investigators, and if the results of the examined guns come to be positive, then the suspects will be interrogated to establish their involvement in such vicious crimes.
The culprits who are still at large have been warned to surrender the guns that are illegally in their possession and handover themselves, or else they risk being put out of action.
"For we cannot afford to allow these criminals to keep terrorizing the community as well as poaching restricted wildlife species," reads Twiine's statement.
"The investigations that commenced following this operation are nearly concluded and on completion, the suspects will be charged of various crimes as provided for by the law."
In a follow-up call, Twiine says it was intentional not to identify the other two suspects as a "tactical" move.
