Police in Rukungiri District are investigating circumstances under which a UPDF soldier was found dead by the roadside in Queen Elizabeth National Park.
On Monday, the Kigezi region police spokesperson Elly Maate said: “Preliminary investigations showed that the deceased soldier was killed by wild animals.”
Police identified him as 32-year-old Pte. Patrick Ndyanabo, a munyankole by tribe and a resident of Ncwera Barracks in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Rwenshama Parish in Rukungiri District’s Bwambara Sub County.
Mr. Maate added that the soldier was attached to the 19th infantry battalion.
According to police, Pte. Ndyanabo’s body was discovered by a boda-boda rider -coming from Rwenshama landing site- who informed administrators of Ncwera Barracks.
Maate said that on 25/02/2023 , the deceased left the barracks and went to Rwenshama land site for unknown reasons, on his way back to the barracks walking on foot at around 04:00am on 26/02/3023 in Queen Elizabeth National park, it’s believed that he met wild animals which claimed his life.
He said that at around 07:00am on 26/02/2023, a boda-boda rider coming from Rwenshama, by passed Ncwera barracks and informed the barracks administration that he had seen unidentified dead body lying alongside the road in the park.
The police spokesperson narrated that the intelligence officer, sent a team of UPDF Officers to the scene who identified the deceased as their fellow officer by the names of private Ndyanabo Patrick.
Police was informed, Scene visited, examined and documented by District CID Rukungiri, CI, Soco UWA, UPDF Officers, postmortem done at Scene , body handed over to the UPDF Officers for further arrangements.
The Police Spokesperson notes that cases of the sudden death were registered at Rukungiri District under reference number DEF 001/2023.
By press time, a case of sudden death had been registered at Rukungiri police station as investigations into the matter continue.
