Police Use Live Ammunition to Disperse Mob
Written by admin on August 9, 2021
Police have used live bullets to disperse an angry mob for attempting to torch the vehicle of an Asian national for allegedly fleeing an accident after knowing 13-year-old Susan Kalende along Lubas road in Southern division in Jinja City on Sunday afternoon.
The 71 year old, Patel Motibhayi was driving a NOAH registration number; UAW 358D when he rammed into a container, accelerated and knocked Kalende who was seated in a shoe workshop. He fled the scene but some of the eyewitnesses quickly rushed Kalende to a private health facility for treatment.
However, a group of youths descended on Patel’s vehicle and started vandalizing it protesting what they termed as unfairness. They accused him of fleeing the accident scene instead of rushing Kalende to the health facility even after noticing that she had sustained severe head injuries.
Some of the youths who were armed with small jerrycans containing petrol blocked the road prompting police officers to fire live ammunition to disperse them. Ayub Kitamirike, one of the eyewitnesses that the excessive usage of force by the police attracted more people to the scene of crime.
“Although the youth had turned rowdy over what had transpired, elders were containing the situation peacefully. However, when police fired live bullets, the crowd grew bigger and the whole place became more chaotic,” he said.
Samson Makanika, the vice-chairperson of Lubas village says that police officers delayed arriving at the accident scene prompting residents to turn rowdy. He, however, says that local leaders were already engaging the angry youths to dissuade them from any mob action but they were shocked to see police officers firing live ammunition.