One person has been shot as police battled an unknown gang that forcefully took over Modern Market adjacent to Kalerwe abattoir this morning.
Trouble started as early 6:30am when a group of men estimated to be over 40 in number encircled the market claiming they had taken it over from owner because they are owed money to the tune of 30million Shillings.
According to Joseph Kiwa, one of the vendors at Kalerwe, the owner identified as Abbas pleaded with the gang to leave the market because he didn’t have any business with them. However, his pleas fell on deaf ears and he was forced to seek police intervention.
The situation ran out of control when the gang turned rowdy and started pelting police officers with stones. In response, police fired several bullets which left one person down, though contrary to what bystander say, the police says he is not dead.
“Abbas is the owner of the abattoir but we were also shocked when a group came to evict him saying he does not pay them,” Kiwa said. “He asked them which money they were demanding but they insisted that they had taken over the market.”
The deputy Kampala metropolitan police spokesperson, Luke Owoyesigyire, said only person was injured and he has not been declared dead. Owoyesigyire said the operation was commanded by OC Kalerwe police station.
“It is one person who was injured and was rushed to hospital,” Owoyesigyire said. “We are yet to ascertain whether he is dead or not. We have also not yet confirmed whether he was part of the group or he was hit by a stray bullet.”
There has been low activity in markets since Uganda announced a second lockdown on June 18th in a bid to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Police now suspects that criminals have been staying in modern market disguising as private security guards.
