Police has arrested another four suspects over the murder of an Eritrean national whose body was dumped in Busia district and later Shs 7.6 billion was stolen from his bank account. The latest arrests bring the number of suspects in police custody to eight.

Those recently arrested are Ruth Akello, an employee of Stanbic bank, Tom Gita, a salesman with Simba Telecom, Eddy Nsubuga and Christopher Kusera.

The quartet was arrested between January 1 and 3, 2017, with the help of the deceased’s mobile telephone records on his MTN and Warid lines shortly before his death.

Eritrean Daniel Weldo, 32, who was transacting business in Uganda and South Sudan, was kidnapped last month and murdered and later his money was stolen.

On December 28, 2016, the inspector general of police, Gen Kale Kayihura, said they had arrested the first four suspects, including a UPDF captain. Kayihura named the four suspects as Capt Hakim Mangeni, his wife Lucy Katuramu, Ben Lumu and Daniel Magara.

“The suspects were tipped off by some bank employees that Weldo had over two million Euros on his Ugandan account and they began to hatch a plan to eliminate him,” Kayihura told journalists on December 28 in Kampala.

“I want to warn the unsuspecting public that there is a gang of mafias in Kampala who connive with some employees of commercial banks who reveal to them who has much money on his/her account and the mafias either threaten them to get the money or kill them,” Kayihura, who described Mangeni as the mafia gang leader, added.

Police spokesman Andrew Felix Kaweesi said the suspects duped Weldo that they would help him get a visa to Germany from where he could transact business.

“Under the guise of securing a visa for Weldo, the suspects got a tip that he had over two million Euros and they kidnapped him. He was reported missing on October 27 and police mounted a search for him. He was found murdered at a farm in Busia district,” Kaweesi told journalists.

Weldo, who relocated from South Sudan, is the second Eritrean to be targeted by criminals in 2016. The first, however, survived being killed and the attempted theft of Shs 7.5bn from his account in a local bank.

slubwama@observer.ug