Three Sitakishari bandits killed

DAR ES SALAAM Special Zone Police Commander, Mr Suleiman Kova, shows reporters in the city yesterday some of the guns seized at Mandimkongo area, Bupu Ward in Mkuranga District, Coast Region. The weapons are believed to be the ones that were used by bandits who raided Sitakishari Police Station at Ukonga in the city last week. (Photo by Staff Photographer

• Two held, 16 guns seized

POLICE in Dar es Salaam have arrested five suspects, three of whom died from gun wounds, and recovered 16 guns and 53 rounds of ammunition, both their own and looted, in the banditry raid at Sitakishari Police Station in Ukonga in the city last week.

The Dar es Salaam Special Zone Police Commander, Suleiman Kova told reporters yesterday that two who are being held are Ramadhani Hamisi Ulatule (15), a resident of Mkuranga and Omari Amour (24) from Mbagala.

Their three colleagues died in an exchange of fire with the police.

He mentioned the suspects who died in the battle with the police as Abbas Hashim, a resident of Mbagala and two others identified by one name only as Yasini and Saidi, both residents of Kitunda Kivule.

According to Mr Kova, the weapons were found on Sunday hidden in deep pit in a forest at Mandimkongo village, Mkuranga, in Coast Region. He said 170 million/- in cash was also found inside the pit.He added that 28 out of the rounds of ammunition recovered were from the police station’s armoury while 25 others belonged to the bandits.

“The weapons found in the hideout included seven Sub-Machine Guns (SMGs), seven semi-automatic rifles (SARs) and a gun of ‘Norinko’ make, suspected to have been stolen somewhere else,” said Mr Kova.

According to the zonal police boss, all the guns found were those that were stolen or used during the raid at the police station.

The police also found 28 rounds of ammunition in the magazine of one of the SMGs. On how they succeeded to arrest the suspects, Mr Kova said after the incident, police embarked on a special operation to look for the suspects, in addition to working on a tip that the same gangsters planned to commit another crime at Toangoma area in Temeke District.

Following the information, police sent a special task force to comb the area. It was during this exercise when five suspects arrived in the area on two motorcycles.

An exchange of fire ensued after the bandits defied a police order to stop and surrender. He said after interrogations with the arrested suspects, police managed to discover the area in Coast Region where the looted weapons were hidden. On Sunday, July 19, police went to the scene and discovered the weapons and money buried in a deep pit.

“In our investigations, we have identified the gang leader and his colleagues. They have to know that they are in the list of most wanted suspects and it is better for them to surrender to the police,” Mr Kova ordered.

He mentioned the names of the most wanted suspects as Abdulaziz Ahmad Abdulrashid alias Ustaadh Abdulaziz, who is the gang leader and resident of Dar es Salaam, Shaban Mohamed Mtumbuka alias Amir Shaban Ndobe and Hannafi Jummanne Kapela alias Mkamba.

The other suspects are Hassan Haruna Issa alias Dr Shujaa, Zahaq Rashid Ngai alias Mtu Mzima, Abubakar Ngindo alias Abu Muhammad and Khamis Ramadhan. He insisted that the operation will continue until they seize all stolen weapons and bust the entire syndicate.

He asked anyone with the right information that will lead to the arrest of the suspects to contact top officials at the Police Headquarters or go to the Dar es Salaam Special Police Zone Office to provide information directly.



“Sixteen gunmen had stormed the police station. All of them had guns, which we want to retrieve, in addition to recovering the weapons that they looted and used during the ambush,” added Mr Kova.

/Daily News.