Police speak out on murder of Indian national
Police at CPS, Kampala are hunting for one of their own for brutally opening fire on an Indian money lender following a heated argument over a reported loan transaction.
The incident that happened on May 12, 2023 at Raja chambers left shock waves among civilians who witnessed the shoot-out and cold murder. The lifeless body of the deceased lay on the ground in a pool of blood. He was in solitude, with a black backpack close to him as employees and colleagues fled upon the sound of live bullets.
The deceased identified as Uttam Bhandari, the owner of TFS Financial Services was shot several times with an AK47 gun until his death. it is reported that Police Constable, Ivan Wabwire (No.67029) shot him.
Kampala Metropolitan police spokesperson, Patrick Onyango says the incident happened at 12:30 pm moments after the duo exchanged words and disagreed over a loan Wabwire borrowed in 2020. Wabwire was servicing two loans he acquired since 2020.
Onyango says accounts from some of the key witnesses and employees at TFS financial services indicate that Wabwire who was armed with a weapon approached Uttam and demanded how much was owed to him by the money lender so that he could get a quotation to take to an unidentified bank to buy off the loan.
Police speak out on murder of Indian national
“The suspect had come to the victim to get a quotation to take to an unidentified bank so that the bank would buy the loan as alleged,” he said.
However, the two disagreed after the deceased told him that the loan had accumulated to a higher amount. Wabwire in a spate of rage started shooting first at the CCTV cameras then at Uttam, he later fled the scene by jumping on a boda until CPS where he abandoned the killer gun.
“They told him the amount (loan balance) and he started arguing, he could not believe that’s the amount he’s supposed to pay. According to one of the workers who was inside the room, the police officer shot at the cameras (CCTV cameras), so when he shot the camera, everybody who was inside took off,” Onyango said.
Onyango says a team of Police officers led by KMP Commander SCP Steven Tanui responded to the scene, cordoned off the area and documented evidence. He adds that police have already taken all the relevant statements from witnesses.
One of the eye witnesses, working on the same building, says they heard bullets and feared for their lives, prompting them to exit . Mugoba Nsonga, an advocate attached to Allan Nsubuga and company advocates, told Galaxy Fm reporter Minah Nalule that they ran to police at Nkurumah and led officers to the site.
“We heard loud gunshots and because of the recent bomb blast trauma, we ran down from the top floor. The entire building was smelling gun smoke. When we reached the lobby, other eyewitnesses told us an Indian had been killed by a police constable. We quickly run to inform the nearest police at Nkurumah but along the way we met three officers arriving and led them to the site. It is becoming unsafe, security organs need to address this,”Mugoba stated.
This incident comes just weeks after a soldier attached to the guard battalion in Bombo shot a minister dead under unclear circumstances. Private Wilson Sabiiti, a principal guard to Minister of State for Labour Charles Engola, had been with Sabiiti for just one month when he suddenly killed him at his residence in Kyanja, a Kampala suburb.
Sabiiti would later shoot himself dead at a local saloon. Investigations into the cause of the incident are still ongoing, although his actions have been attributed to poor pay and loans that the deceased incurred.
During Engola’s State funeral on Wednesday, the President asked for thorough investigations into the matter, stating that the minister was a sacrificial lamb for something he never caused.
Police speak out on murder of Indian national
