By Peter Abanabasazi
An Intelligence officer attached to Uganda Police Force from Kampala has been admitted to Hoima regional referral hospital after he was injured as security operatives pursued suspected cattle thugs in Hoima district.
Police sources who preferred anonymity say that on Monday, acting on intelligence information, police raided Kipapati village in Kitoba sub-county, Hoima district where suspected cattle thugs who have been terrorizing the community had been cited.
The source adds that police officers from Hoima rural police station rushed to the area to arrest the suspects but when they arrived in the area, the suspects took off forcing the security to purse them.
It is alleged that the injured police officer whose identities have not disclosed by the sources went a head of other officers and as the behind officers fired at the thugs, a bullet accidently hit him in the leg.
The victim had been sent from police headquarters Kampala following the increasing cattle theft report from livestock farmers in Hoima.
The source explains that after the incident, police halted the operation, picked the injured officer and rushed him to Hoima regional referral hospital where he is receiving treatment.
Julius Hakiza, the Albertine region police spokesperson confirmed the incident saying the officer was accidentally shot by his colleagues as they pursued the cattle thugs adding that the officer sustained minor injuries.
The incident follows a recent operation launched by security in Hoima district crackdown on the increasing theft of livestock in the district.
The operation has so far left four people including UPDF officer arrested after they were found in the bush slaughtering suspected stolen cows.
