POLICE here have arrested one man with a gun suspected to have been stolen from policemen who were on patrol in the city on January 26.
The suspect is one of the gangsters who are being hunted by the police following an exchange of fire at the Amboni Caves near here that left one Tanzania People’s Defence Forces (TPDF) soldier dead. In a press conference here yesterday, the Chief of Operations and Training in the Police Force, Commissioner of Police Paul Chagonja, said that the suspect was arrested on Monday at a bar known as Corner Z.
He said the arrest was facilitated by information that police received from one Good Samaritan residing in Amboni, a few kilometres from here. Commissioner Chagonja further said after thorough interrogations with the suspect, he ultimately showed them the place where the gun was hidden in one of the caves.
“We interrogated him and he finally took us to the place where the gun was hidden...it was concealed in a mound of earth in one of the caves where an exchange of fire took place a few days back. Here is the gun; an SMG with 20 bullets. It is one of the guns that had been grabbed by the bandits from the police, ‘’ Mr Chagonja said, showing the weapon to journalists who attended the press conference.
He vowed that the police would not know any sleep until the other gun is found, promising an intensive operation. He also promised that reporters would be informed after any development stage concerning the matter. The senior police force official thanked Tanga residents for their valuable cooperation to the police force, which led to the arrest of the suspect and the gun, appealing for more support from them to retrieve the other gun, which is still at large.
Mr Chagonja once again declined more details on the matter – whether the arrested suspect was in any way connected to any terror organisation, only insisting that he was one of the bandits who attacked the police and made away with two guns. The police commissioner repeated his request to journalists to report “accurately and precisely only what you get from reliable sources to avoid creating panic among the public.’’
“I thank those media outlets that have been showing professionalism in reporting about the matter ... send positive information to check unnecessary panic among residents,’’ Mr Chagonja told reporters, pledging that the police will continue to report on the progress made in the operation from time to time.
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