100 arrested after theft of phone from Senegalese woman in Kampala

A case reported at the station indicated that unknown thugs operating along Northern bypass smashed a window of a vehicle belonging Diallo who was robbed of her laptop bag containing a passport, laptop, mobile phone and other key documents.

The victim who was a resident of Golf Hotel in Kampala proceeded to Entebbe Airport but could not travel due to lack of a passport, prompting her to report to authorities.

A Kampala phone dealer explained that “some of their customers always want to change serial numbers of suspected stolen phones so that they can be sold as used phones at a cheaper price.”

“Some people who deal in mobile phones use a particular machine that finds out unknown pins of several mobile phones. The phones are flashed to change the pin codes, serial numbers or even the screen lock patterns or codes,” said the phone dealer who preferred anonymity.  

On Tuesday, Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Patrick Onyango told Monitor that police detectives through their investigations, established that the phone that was stolen from the Senegalese ended up at Hanifa Towers in Kampala’s central division.

“Police from Natete came at Central Police Station Kampala and requested for man power. They went down town at Hanifa Towers and arrested 101 phone dealers. They recovered over 200 stolen mobile phones,” he said.

Onyango added that the suspects are currently detained at CPS Kampala and Natete police station pending screening.