A police constable attached to the Water and Environment Ministry has been found dead and his body dangling by a rope on a tree at the playground of St. Paul primary school in Banda, Nakawa division, a Kampala city suburb. The deceased has been identified as James Ochan. The body was found by residents led by the Banda zone LC I chairperson, Patrick Ssebalamu at around 7:00 am this morning.
A team of detectives led by the Jinja Road Police Division Commander, Robert Katulamu visited the scene a few minutes to midday. Although residents had initially thought it was a case of suicide, the detectives think the deceased was killed by strangling. Detectives introduced a sniffer dog but they were unable to do much since the crime scene was tampered with.
According to Katulamu, based on the size and shape of the tree, it is impossible for someone to commit suicide on it. “Suicide cannot take place on such a small-sized tree, the legs touching the ground. With suicide, someone dies while fighting to remove a rope, but for this case, the arms are straight on the body,” said Robert Katulamu.
Residents who couldn’t recognise the deceased’s body said that he could have been killed from somewhere else and his body brought in Banda where it was tied on the neck to mislead investigators. Christine Baguma, a resident said the fact that area residents have failed to recognise the body shows that the person was killed from somewhere else.
Welinda Luzanilo, a boda-boda cyclist in Banda town is worried about the increasing acts of criminality in Nakawa.
The newly elected Nakawa East Constituency Member of parliament, Ronald Balimwezo Nsubuga appealed to security organs to heighten patrols in Nakawa division because of the reported cases of iron bar attacks. He says security has relaxed on night patrols since the end of the elections which has given chance to criminals to bounce back in the area.
The Kampala Metropolitan Deputy Police Spokesperson, Luke Owoyesigyire says pathologists and detectives are talking to the deceased’s friends and family members to establish the actual cause of Ochan’s death.
“The body has been conveyed to Kampala Capital City Authority mortuary at Mulago for postmortem. We would like to extend our condolences to his family,” said Owoyesigyire.
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By: URN
