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Police in Lwengo are holding a Pastor for being linked to a criminal gang that involved in armed robberies in the Masaka sub-region.
The suspect is Pastor Mark Kaliisa of Souls Healing Center in Kalegeero trading center. He is accused of participating in high-profile armed robberies at homes and commercial settings.
Findings by Police and the Uganda Peoples Defense Force-UPDF indicate that Kaliisa is linked to a suspect on the run who abandoned two AK-47 guns at his home in Katovu Sub County, Lwengo district on Friday last week.
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Kaliisa reported to the police that he had hosted a mentally ill man at his home for prayers, but out of curiosity, he searched his bag and found two guns. He claims that the mad man fought him and disappeared through Kalegero swamp between Lwengo and Lyantonde districts.
However, Lieutenant Colonel Henry Murangira, the Intelligence Officer at the UDPF Armored Brigade Kassijagirwa, Masaka says that their investigations suggest that Kaliisa is an accomplice in acts of armed robberies that are committed in the area.
Lt Col Murangira noted that they have obtained clues that link Kaliisa to robberies, and that he was trying to forge a confession to dupe security teams that were already tracking the guns.
According to Murangira, the suspect took advantage of the weaknesses of the local security committees at villages and parish levels, to settle in the area where he allegedly coordinated robberies with the different people who are still on the run.
He indicates that security teams are pursuing all members of the criminal gang.
Murangira explains that security has resolved to conduct abrupt checks on the local council security committee to assess their levels of vigilance, as a way of solving the growing laxity which gives room for criminality to thrive.
Pastor Kaliisa was arrested together with a local businessman Suleiman Kakeeto.
However, Kakeeto was on Wednesday released after the security investigations team poked holes in Kaliisa’s statements that were implicating him.
