The lone sniffer dog at Hoima Central Police Station has gone missing. The dog reportedly disappeared after an accident involving a police truck registration number UP 5626 which was carrying a team of detectives heading to Kikuube district on a mission to track down suspects.
Hoima district police commander Christopher Katumba says that the sniffer dog vanished into Bugoma forest reserve as soon as the police truck overturned. The accident occurred at Kitooke village in Kabwoya sub-county, Kikuube district.
According to Katumba, the police officers on the truck never sought for permission before taking the sniffer dog out of the station. He has however declined to divulge particulars of the officers for fear of jeopardizing police investigations.
Katumba fears that the dog could be killed by wild animals in the forest reserve or even cause havoc in homes. URN has established that the police pickup was being driven by David Birakwaate at the time it was involved in an accident.
The sniffer dog is very vital in tracking and tracing for high profile criminals engaged in robberies, murders and house break-ins among others.
In June 2017, Corporal Francis Onekalit, the officer attached to the Canine Unit at Hoima Central Police Station died when the driver of the Toyota Premio registration number, UAW 750B he was travelling in together with a sniffer dog lost control and hit an electric pole. The sniffer dog escaped unhurt.