Police have confirmed the arrest of Police Constable Ivan Wabwire who on May 12 shot and killed an Indian money lender Uttam Bhandari at Raja Chambers along Parliamentary Avenue in Kampala
“A joint team of security traced the suspect to Busia District. On May 13, 2023, Flying Squad Unit joined the territorial police of Busia. On May 14, 2023 at around 7am, Wabwire was arrested in Busia Municipality at Customs by a joint team commanded by the DPC Busia SP Didas Byaruhanga,” said Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson, SSP Patrick Onyango.
Footage retrieved from the crime scene shows PC Wabwire firing multiple bullets at Mr Bhandari at close range after a brief discussion. The other people who were in the office were seen running out for their lives.
Bhandari was the director of TFS Financial Services. Police confirmed that the officer attached to Kampala Central Police Station had been servicing a loan of Shs2, 130,000 he acquired from TFS Financial Services two years ago.
Wabwire who has a history of mental instability, according to police, went berserk after failure to agree on the repayment plan for the loan he had acquired. The 30-year-old officer who hails from Buwalira village, Bumunji Parish, Masinya Sub County, was in 2018 banned from possessing a firearm for six years after being admitted to Butabika Hospital twice over the mental breakdown.
the Northern Indian Association has described Bhandari as a consummate professional in the moneylending business. Mr Sanjiv Patel Mugisha, a leader in the Northern Indian Association, says Bhandari is survived by a widow and a two-year-old daughter. He registered his moneylending company—that counts a number of police officers as its clients—five years ago. TFS Financial Services has also been lending money to a number of Uganda’s lawmakers across a two-decade stretch.
