Policeman Arrested for Releasing Attempted Murder Suspect

The Police in Gulu District have arrested one of their own for unlawfully releasing a suspect behind the attempted murder of her four-year-old stepdaughter.

The suspect was identified as Detective Sergeant No.32606 Bosco Ociti, attached to the Awach sub-county model policing station in Awach Sub-County. He was arrested on Wednesday after he reportedly released 35-year-old Evelyn Aciro, a main suspect in an attempted murder and arson case.

Aciro had been in detention following her arrest on September 14 after she reportedly set ablaze her co-wife’s grass-thatched hut where her husband was spending a night at Latwong Village, Paduny Sub-County in Gulu district. The incident left her co-wife identified as Concy Apiyo 33, her stepdaughter Gloria Adoch 4, and her husband David Akena with severe body injuries.

David Ongom Mudong, the Aswa West Police Spokesperson said on Friday that Ociti released the suspect without notifying senior police officers at Awach Police Station.

He says Ociti’s unprofessional actions sparked protests from members of the community and gender-based activists which led to his arrest on Wednesday.

According to Mudong, the suspect who is in detention at Awach police station has been charged with releasing or causing the suspect to be released unlawfully and will face the Police Disciplinary court law once the investigation is complete.

He says Aciro was rearrested and is being detained at Awach Police station and will be arraigned in court after her case file is sanctioned by the Resident state attorney. A case of attempted murder and arson against the suspect has been registered under VIDE CRB 217 OF Gulu Rural Central Police Station.

Meanwhile, six suspects have been arrested by the police in Gulu City in connection to the fatal shooting of a 27-year-old female sex worker.  Sharifa Akullu was shot dead by an unknown gunman on September 14 in front of Lim Welo Guest House, a popular brothel in Pece-Laroo Division.

Police said the suspects whose identities haven’t been shared include the proprietor of the guest house and his employee and four other female sex workers who use the facility.

“The suspects are cooperating and offering information that will help investigators have a clue behind the murder,” Mudong told Uganda Radio Network in an interview Friday. He says a bullet recovered from the crime scene has been sent for investigation at the police forensics laboratory in Kampala.