A police constable is battling for his dear life at Moroto Regional Referral Hospital after being shot twice while raiding cattle Karimojong rustlers.
The Joint security forces shot Police constable Joseph Apuun on the leg and back at Iriiri on Tuesday night where he has gone with others to raid animals.
Micheal Longole, the Karamoja Regional Police Spokesperson has confirmed the incident and described it as shameful.
He said that Apuun who is attached to Entebbe police station had returned home on leave.
“The devil took his mind to join other raiders to go and raid animals,” he said. He says that the constable will appear in court on charges of cattle theft when he recovers.
“It’s unfortunate that the officer who should have been helping in fighting against cattle rustling is again the one who came and became the commander of raiders,” he said.
Moses Emudong, a resident of Iriiri sub-county in Napak district, says that the current rustling in the region is being fueled by some security personnel.
“We always tell people that there are some forces behind this problem but they don’t believe. You can imagine a full police officer, paid by government monthly comes back and participated in cattle rustling,” he said.
Peter Lokol, another resident appealed to the police to prosecute the constable and dismiss him from the force because of indiscipline.