Dar police kill fleeing suspect

By HILDA MHAGAMA

A MAN identified as Linus Nyoni (42), a resident of Mbagala Charambe, died after being shot by the police, while trying to evade arrest for possessing a pistol and ammunition. Police have also arrested, Majid Abdallah (31) a resident of Tabata for possessing 35 rounds of ammunition for a browning pistol that was hidden under his bed.

The Dar es Salaam Special Zone Police Commander, Lazaro Mambosasa, told journalists in the city yesterday that, in the first incident, they learned that someone was involved in a number of armed robbery incidents in Mbagala Kibondemaji area.
“After the police were tipped-off about the incident, we soon started an investigation and put a trap to arrest the suspect in question; we found him with a small revolver pistol with six rounds of ammunition while the serial numbers of the pistol were erased,” he said. He said the suspect had confessed to various armed robbery events in Mbagala and Mkuranga, while working with his colleagues, saying they possessed some weapons hidden in the Dona forest at Buza area and agreed to take the security forces to his colleagues.
The RPC said the police accompanied the suspect to Dona forest but he started running while alerting his colleagues of the presence of police in the area; the police decided to shoot into the air and ordered him to stop, but he did not obey the command, and then decided to shoot him. He said, however, the suspect was taken to Muhimbili National Hospital but he died while receiving treatment and his body was preserved pending his relatives to identify him for burial.
In addition, the police said that they were continuing with the search for his colleagues who were working together as well as weapons used in criminal activities. In the second incident, he said, the suspect was further questioned and would appear in court to respond to the charges against him after the investigation procedures are completed.
At the same time, RPC Mambosasa said they were still continuing with investigations of who possessed the weapon that shot and killed a former National College of Transportation (NIT) student, Akwilina Akwilini. Meanwhile, Mambosasa urged residents of the city to celebrate the Easter festive season cautiously or risk facing the wrath of the law.
He said there would be police patrols around all houses of worship and recreation centres, as he warned drivers and riders of motorcycles popularly known as ‘bodaboda’ to avoid reckless driving. He called upon them to refrain from taking alcohol and driving, lest they cause accidents.
He pleaded with local authorities to collaborate with the Police Force in a bid to prevent children from going to ‘disco toto’ in their areas of jurisdiction for security reasons. “I have not received any application from anyone who wishes to host disco toto, I believe most of them have no qualifications to hold such parties, I am warning whoever plans to host such party, the law will take its course, for police officers will be scattered around the city,” he cautioned