The Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) is holding five senior police officers over their alleged involvement in a string of crimes.
The officers held include; Nickson Agasirwe, the former head of the Police Special Operations Unit at Nalufenya in Jinja district, Joel Aguma, the commandant Professional Standards Unit (PSU), Alex Tumukunde and Faisal Katende, both operatives from the Flying Squad Unit and an intelligence officer only identified as Magada.
Aguma and Agasirwe were detained on Tuesday evening when they appeared at CMI headquarters for the third time in less than a month for questioning. The other officers were detained on their first appearance.
Asan Kasingye the police spokespesom declined to comment on the arrests.
Aguma is being investigated for allegedly repatriating several refugees to Rwanda. Agasirwe and the three others are wanted in connection to the murder of former police spokesperson, Andrew Felix Kaweesi.
Aguma, in 2013, was implicated in the kidnapping and illegally extraditing Lt Joel Mutabazi, a former bodyguard of Rwanda President Paul Kagame leading to his suspension from the force for two years.
The arrest of the five suspects comes few days after President Museveni reportedly directed the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to order four police directors to appear before the Internal Security Organisation (ISO) and CMI for questioning in relation to a missive authored by Ali Kabanda, a former police operative.
Kabanda allegedly wrote to the president implicating the officers for their alleged involvement in dubious deals including undermining investigations into the murder of Kaweesi and making wrongfully arrests.
Police officers who are charged with others of kidnap of a Rwanda National, before Makindye General Court Martial have asked the court Chairman Lt Gen Andrew Gutti not to remand them to Luzira Prison.
These claimed they feared being harmed by criminals who they arrested and pinned in courts of law in the past.
The suspects are police officers SCP Joel Aguma; SSP Nixon Agasirwe, Sgt Abel Tumukunde, ASP James Magada and Faisal Katende who are charged along with Benon Atwebembeire, Amon Kwarisiima, Rene Rutagungira and Bahati Mugenga.
These, through their lawyers asked to be remanded to Kigo Prison.
“My lord and honourable court members, the accused persons are police officers who have worked for this country; they have helped the state to secure convictions in a number of cases like the Lugogo bombings case where the convicts are currently serving their sentences in Luzira Upper Prison,” pleaded Counsel Caleb Alaka.
“My lord, currently all the accused persons are still serving members of the Police Force and they are still considered to be innocent,” he added.
With this plea in mind, the Court Chairman Lt Gen Andrew Gutti remanded the first three accused persons ACP Joel Aguma, SSP Nixon Agasirwe, DASP Magada James to Makindye Military Barracks and the rest of the suspects to Kigo Prison.
Alaka further asked court to order that the accused persons are given all their belongings which were confiscated from them during the time of arrest.
The suspects didn’t take any plea on grounds that they had some matters which they intended to challenge.
The case was adjourned to 20th November 2017.
