Zanzibar Police Commissioner Mussa Ali Mussa addresses journalists
yesterday as he displays containers filled with acid that were seized
from some of the 15 suspects arrested in connection with last Friday’s
acid attack on a priest. PHOTO | MWINYI SADALLAH
In Summary
The suspects are still being interrogated and
the police have asked all those who have more information to implicate
the suspects to come forward.
Zanzibar. Police in Zanzibar are holding 15 people in connection with acid attack on a Catholic Church priest last Friday.
Zanzibar Police Commissioner Mussa Ali Mussa told
reporters yesterday that some of the suspects were found with diluted
and undiluted acid.
“We are also investigating claims that most of the
suspects have links with the terrorist group, Al-Shabaab, and whether
they have actually taken part in combat missions with the terrorist
group in some countries,” Mr Mussa said.
The crackdown that facilitated the capture of the
suspects started in earnest on Saturday, a day after Fr Anselm
Mwang’amba, a priest at Catholic Church Machui parish, was splashed with
the corrosive chemical.
Fr Mwang’amba, who is now admitted to the
Muhimbili National Hospital, was attacked as he left an Internet café on
Friday afternoon in Zanzibar.
The suspects are still being interrogated and the
police have asked all those who have more information to implicate the
suspects to come forward.
The Saturday crackdown was carried out in
cooperation from officials from the Government Chemist and it targeted
illegal importers, distributors and retailers of corrosive chemicals.
“We seized 29 litres packed in one-litre
containers in various areas in Zanzibar. The crackdown is ongoing,” Mr
Mussa noted.He could not say where exactly in Zanzibar the suspected
Al-Shabaab members were caught but said they were caught, “while
preparing to take part in wars outside Tanzania.” He defended Zanzibar
police against allegations that they are lax in their investigations on
acid attacks since no case has been taken to court out of five
incidents.
“Our duty is to arrest, investigate and present
evidence to the Director of Public Prosecution. So far we are fulfilling
our responsibilities,” Mr Mussa noted. However, he disclosed that the
case on acid attack on Rashid Ali Juma,
Zanzibar Municipality director has been closed due
to lack of evidence. No one was arrested in connection to the attack
that took place early this year.
Investigation on another acid attack case, whose
victim was Sheikh Fadhil Soraga, is complete and the file has been sent
to the DPP. The suspects arrested in the case are out on bail. Sheikh
Saroga, who is the secretary of the Zanzibar Mufti, was attacked in
November last year.
Investigations on the acid attack on two British
girls is in final stages, according to Mr Mussa. A local government
official Mohamed Said Kidevu was attacked this year, with thugs throwing
corrosive liquid on him, but no one has so far been arrested in
connection with the incident.
SOURCE: THE CITIZEN
SOURCE: THE CITIZEN
