Police in Hoima city are holding two suspects who have been terrorising area residents stealing vehicle number plates and subjecting extortion with promises of returning the stolen plates only after full payment of the ‘ransom’.
The suspects have been identified as Isaac Mujuni and Johnson Musinguzi both residents of Kyarwabuyamba cell in Hoima west division. They were arrested on Monday night during an operation conducted by security operatives.
The suspects have been stealing vehicle number plates in areas of Kiryatete, Duhaga, Kinubi, Bujumbura, Lusaka, Kijungu, Kibingo and Kiganda in Hoima East and West divisions respectively.
Julius Hakiza, the Albertine region police spokesperson told Uganda Radio Network in an interview that police was compelled to launch a crackdown following several complaints to police from members of the public.
According to Hakiza, the suspects who were arrested from their hide out in Kyarwabuyamba cell were found with 10 different motor vehicle number plates.
He says after plucking off the car number plates; the suspects would leave their mobile phone contacts on the vandalised car for the victims to call back to get more information about the whereabouts of their motor vehicle plates.
Hakiza says after calling the suspects’ mobile phone number, the suspects would tell them to send them money first before they reveal to them where they have kept the number plates.
According to Hakiza, the suspects who are currently being detained will be arraigned before court to be charged accordingly as the hunt for more suspects is ongoing.
Hajji Ramadhan, the Chairperson LCI for Kyarwabuyamba cell has tasked landlords to thoroughly scrutinize people who rent their houses saying the arrested thugs were not known to him but were secretly living in his area.
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