Police shoots dead two  robbers in Bukoto

Police in Bukoto has on Wednesday evening shot dead two unknown robbers who had forced themselves into a house.

According to Police, at around 9 pm, ASP Hussein Mugarura, the Officer in Charge of Tuba Police Post received information of thugs who had forced themselves into a home along Matayo close, Kigoowa 2 zone in Bukoto 2 parish.

The thugs had first assaulted the security guard at the house before kidnapping the owner of the home whom they locked inside his car, a Toyota Harrier.

Meanwhile, when Mugarura responded, the robbers tried to knock him prompting him to fire bullets that killed instantly the two thugs whereas the owner of the car and home was slightly injured on the leg.

Kampala Metropolitan deputy police spokesperson, Luke Owoyesigyire confirmed the incident saying they are still hunting for other thugs who were part of the gang.

"The rest of the members of the criminal gan took off but police are pursuing them but we want to thank the family for reporting the incident in time but also having the contact of the nearest police station," Owoyesigyire said.

He also applauded the  Officer in Charge of Tuba Police Post for the quick response when he received information about the thugs.

President Museveni has always urged police on quick response as one of the ways to combat crime in various parts of the country.

Speaking during the function to commission the new national CCTV camera command centre at Police headquarters in Naguru last year, Museveni advised that all police stations should have counter lines that members of the public call in case of any incident to ensure response.

“All police stations should have accessible telephones 24/7. The officers of duty should ensure a quick response.”

The latest incidence is a testimony that police has moved a step in implementing Museveni’s directive.

The Police’s Chief Political Commissar, AIGP Kasingye last year said Police is now working towards reducing the response time in case of any incident.

He noted that in the past, Police would take 15 minutes within which to reach an area in response to a crime incident but this was not helping.

“Within the 15 minutes, the criminals will have finished their mission and taken off. We are trying to improve the time to only five minutes. In the five minutes, if police officers are called by affected residents on the counter line, they can respond and be able to apprehend the criminals,”Kasingye said.

He added, “Criminals operate successfully because they know they can’t be caught when police takes long to respond to incidents. We want to change this so that officers arrive in time.”