WATCH: Ugandan policeman in shooting incident over Sh60,000 ‘debt’ arrested in Kenya
Police in Kampala, Uganda have arrested their colleague who is the main suspect in a shooting incident involving a money lender inside a building located along the same street with Uganda’s Parliament.
In a CCTV footage seen by Nairobi News, the officer who has been identified as Constable Ivan Wabwire is seen spraying bullets at one Mr Uttam Bhandari, an Indian national, inside Raja Chambers, a five minutes’ walk to the Ugandan parliament.
#VIDEO: @PoliceUg are investigating a case of murder by shooting that happened today at Rajja Chambers in Kampala. UTTAM BHANDARI an Indian by Nationality and the Director of TFS Financial Services was shot dead by a police officer only identified as No.67029 PC Wabwire Ivan. pic.twitter.com/8p7Q8zQUv0
— CTV Uganda (@ctvuganda) May 12, 2023
Incidentally, the building is also a four minutes’ walk away to Kampala Central Police Station.
The deceased, a Director of TFS Financial Services, was shot dead at 1pm.
Kampala Metropolitan police spokesperson Patrick Onyango suggested the shooting incident occured amid a dispute over the particulars of a loan the policeman was servicing at the institution.
“The client who is also a police officer identified as PC Ivan Wabwire came on Thursday and met the director of TFS financial services to verify how much he owed the company,” Mr Onyango said.
The police boss added that the first loan Mr Wabwire took from the lender was coded meaning it was directly taken from his salary while the second one was not.
He said that on the second loan, the officer would usually head to the lender and pay the money whenever he got it.
On May 11, 2023, the officer went to ask how much he owed them and after the calculations he was told that he was yet to pay Sh60,000.
“Yesterday, he said the bank where they are paying his salary from wanted the calculations so that they can offset all the loan and see how they could progress with him,” Mr Onyango explained.
According to Mr Onyango, the officer got irritated when he was informed of the amount that he was yet to pay and it is then that he started arguing as he dismissed the figure claiming that it had been inflated.
“One of the workers who was inside said the officer first shot at the CCTV cameras inside the office. Everybody who was inside took off. We still don’t know what happened thereafter. We have called our CCTV team to come and retrieve the footage and analyse to see what happened,” Mr Onyango said.
After the shooting, PC Wabwire who is currently on the run jumped on a boda boda (motorbike) and rushed to Central Police Station in Kampala where he abandoned the reported killer gun, an AK47 make.
Hindu Council of Africa President Mr Rajni Tailor who is based in Uganda also shared the images of the deceased asking the Ugandan police officers to ensure that they nab the suspect.
“It is with deep sorrow we announce the tragic death of Mr Uttam Bhandari, 38, in Kampala. He is a beloved brother to Dilip Bhandari. More details will follow. May his soul rest in eternal peace,” he posted on his official Facebook account.
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