Police warns after father pays out millions to rescue 3yr old son
Parents of a 3 year old identified as Idris Iga had to dig deep into their pockets for a Ushs6m ransom that was demanded by thugs who had kidnapped their child from Kawempe last week.
Little Idris was kidnapped as he was playing with fellow kids outside of his parents’ home in Ttula Kawempe Division. Witnesses told Police that after landing their hands on their prized asset, the kidnappers reported the matter to the area community radio (Kizindaalo) purporting to have picked a boy while straying and left their telephone contact with the ‘radio’.
The unsuspecting father of Idris, a one Farouk Lubega, a senior State attorney working with the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, was however shocked when he later learnt that the people at the end of the phone with his son were kidnappers.
Although Lubega quickly reported the matter to Police, he lost his patience as the kidnappers kept threatening to butcher the child if he did not produce the ransom in a space of just 4 hours.
“I could not stop begging them (in reference to kidnappers) asking for some minutes so that I could mobilize the money from relatives and friends and wire it to them via their mobile money line as quickly as I could if that could save the life of my child,” Lubega said.
As if justifying Farouk’s rushed action, the DPC Kawempe Police station Agnes Anyu told The Sunrise that even when her Criminal Investigative team called the kidnappers they were arrogant stating that they would not release the child until they received the ransom.
On receiving the money, the kidnappers handed the hapless child to one bodaboda rider who was directed to take the kid to Kinaawa High School in Kawempe Division near Lubega’s home.
But the cyclist was arrested by concerned citizens and handed over to police to aid investigations intended to bring the kidnappers to book.
Iga’s kidnap, according to Kawempe Police Station Officer in Charge Kenneth Ampurira, is a rude reminder of an on-going racket of thieves who are currently on rampage snatching car number plates and thereafter demand hefty sums of money from unsuspecting motorists. The thieves reportedly demand that their ransom is wired through mobile money lines they leave behind.
