Jonglei state police arrest three over stolen money
March 25, 2016 (BOR) – Police in South Sudan’s Jonglei state arrested three members of the Lou Nuer ethnic tribe caught with nearly SSP 2 million and an AK-47 rifle with a magazine containing 30 bullets as they attempted to cross from Duk to Uror counties.
The money was wrapped and sealed in a cigarette box and a rifle with 30 ammunitions.
The Duk county commissioner, Malual Wuor, brought the three suspects, the money and their rifles with its ammunitions to Bor town.
The three suspects from Juba were handed over to Bor town police for investigations.
The state deputy governor, Peter Wall Athiu, confirmed the arrest of the trio on Friday, and said investigation were to be conducted to establish the source of the money.
“The suspicious amount of 1,827,000 South Sudan pounds was caught, from the three people who were also arrested with a gun, and we are trying to invest, to find the origin of this money, and destination, whether that money is legal money or wrong money. It is just a matter of investigation; otherwise we will see the outcome of the investigation,” said Wal.
The office of the deputy governor, in the letter dated 24 March, formed a four member committee to investigate the matter and have to report back to the former.
The committee is headed by Reech Deng Diar, a laywer by profession. Other members include, Peter Wuor Manyok, from Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Chol Elijah Makhor from the Police and Solomon Ajith Chol from the national security services.
The commitee will ascertain the ownership of the amount found in the hands of the suspects and also find out where the suspect got the rifle with its ammunitions.
Until investigations are over, the commissioner of Duk county will be the custodian of the money, while the gun and ammunitions will be at Bor police station with the suspects.
Sudan Tribune has reliably learned from inside sources in Bor that there were some inconsistencies between the figure reported and what was documented in the primary investigation report compiled in Duk by the police and CID officials in the county.
“There is great disparity in the figures. When we look at the report that came from Duk police and CID officers, the money was in dollars, and it could be more than SSP1.827 million even if was converted into pounds at the current rate”, a source told Sudan Tribune.
“The report from Duk police was that the money belonged to 17 people whose names were provided in the report, according to what the suspects said at the primary investigation stage. Now in Bor, the money turned into pounds. We don’t know which is the true amount of money, the investigation will tell,” he added.
Details on the type of vehicle in which the suspects traveled could not easily be availed.
(ST)