Security agencies led by the Police have arrested five suspects, including the husband of Merina Tumukunde, who was shot dead at the Entebbe Expressway last month.
Tumukunde was the wife of Mark Rugyenza, a businessman running a chain of outlets in Kampala and Mbarara.
She (Tumukunde) was gunned down together with a former civil aviation employee, Joshua Rushegyera Nteireho. Investigators privy to the probe who spoke on condition of anonymity, said a top city lawyer, a hotel manager, a doctor and Nteireho’s brother are among the suspects who have been picked by security operatives. However, by press time, Rugyenza had been released on Police bond, pending ongoing inquiries.
So far, investigators have grilled Rugyenza for two consecutive times. “He was released on Police bond,” a source said, adding that his mobile phones had been confiscated. Why his phones were retained remains a subject of ongoing investigations.
Elite operatives from sister security agencies spent a greater part of yesterday interrogating the suspects currently detained at the Police’s Special Investigations Division (SID) in Kireka, Wakiso district.
The suspects were picked from western Uganda over the weekend. The aim is to get killers and the motive that led to the brutal murder. Another source said Nteireho’s driver, only identified as Timothy and the Policeman whose gun were at the Crime scene
The duo has spent three weeks in security detention. In a recent press conference, Police spokesperson Fred Enanga said investigators were probing the matter with the ‘aim’ of establishing the motive behind the shooting.
MERINA’S HUSBAND speaks out
Following the murder, Mark Rugyenza, the husband of Merina Tumukunde, told reporters that he did not expect his wife in Kampala on the day she was shot dead. Rugyenza said he travelled with his wife from Kampala to Mbarara on Tuesday.
“I then travelled back to Kampala, on Wednesday, leaving her at home in Mbarara. But I am now getting to learn that as soon as I left, she teamed up with friends and travelled to Kampala without my knowledge,” Rugyenza, the proprietor of Desert Bar in Mbarara and Gabiro Bar in Bugolobi, a city suburb, said.
He said he was informed on Thursday night that his wife had been shot dead in Kampala. “I called a friend in Mbarara to go and find out if she was at home. The friend later confirmed that she did not spend the night at home .”