Flying squad re-arrests car robbery suspect

Kampala, Uganda |  THE INDEPENDENT |  The Police’s Flying Squad has rearrested a suspected car robber who escaped from police custody.

John Wandera was picked on Monday from one of the suburbs of Kampala after he was tracked and trailed by Flying Squad operatives under the commander of Senior Superintendent of Police Godwin Turamye. 

Wandera and two others still at large escaped from Kampala Central Police Station –CPS through a window when they had been put in an interrogation room. The suspects scaled down using a curtain that had been placed in a window.

Charles Twine, the Criminal Investigations Directorate –CID and Flying Squad Spokesperson confirmed Wandera’s arrest. Twine declined to divulge details of the place where he was picked from since they suspect his accomplices could be in the same area. “We have him and we are looking for others,” Twine said.

Flying Squad arrested Wandera alongside two others during a hunt for motor vehicle robbers in Kampala and other upcountry places. 

A recent analysis of CID records on motor vehicle theft and robberies show on average 700 cars are stolen or robbed in Kampala every year. The figures mean two vehicles are stolen or robbed per day in Kampala City.

CID statistics that cover 2017, 2018 and 2019 reveal that 2,413 vehicles were stolen in Kampala metropolitan. Of the three years analyzed, 2017 registered the highest number of motor vehicle thefts and robberies with 848 cases.

Nevertheless, police believe the installation of Closed Circuit Television – CCTV cameras is greatly helping to reduce car thefts and robberies. This was based on the facts that cases dropped to 784 down from 848 cases of 2017. The cases further reduced in 2019 to only 781 in 2019. Police say thieves target cars parked outside bars, supermarkets including those in people’s compounds.  

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