Bullets and teargas rocked Bulenga along Mityana road as police arrested one of their own, Buyende District Police Commander Muhammad Kirumira at his home.
Flying Squad operatives are said to have taken cover at Kiruira’s house for six hours before his arrest which occurred at exactly 11:04am. A police officer was seen struggling to break the celebrity cop’s door, before forcefully getting him out.
The world watched on national television as neighbors formed crowds blocking the police officers and operatives from accessing Kirumira, who had locked himself inside the house and was only speaking through the window.
Police finally managed to bypass the crowds, but Kirumira refused to open the door saying he would not allow to be arrested by members of a unit he has been speaking about and their crimes.
Kirumira's father Abubaker Kawoya came and tried to intervene but the police commander fully dressed in his uniform remained adamant asking for the police spokesperson Emilian Kayima to come and he would hand himself in.
Police became stranded. Without an arrest warrant and the commanding officer an Assistant Superintendent of Police, the same rank as Kirumira's, there was little that could be negotiated on.
However, it took a call from a senior officer who ordered for the breaking down and forced entry into Kirumira's house. The police operatives broke the first door and second doors before Kirumira opened with his hands in the air.
Hajji Kawoya says his son's problems are as a result of a meeting he had with the president a few months ago.
Last week, Kirumira was charged in the police tribunal for crimes allegedly committed in 2013 and 2014 when he was in charge of Nansana Police station and Old Kampala police station respectively.
Kirumira pleaded not guilty to charges ranging from torture, extortion, corruption, bribery, unlawful arrests and excessive use of authority. Kirumira was famous for his fight against crime in the areas of Nansana. He had also arrested most people terrorizing city dwellers.
Kirumira was scheduled to appear at the police tribunal sitting at police headquarters today.
