By JOHN SAKALA
Police says the shootout at Munali Police station where Constable Lennox Kapila was shot in the stomach and later died was because his workmate Constable Edwin Kabasiya was angered with the way he handled a case that was reported to Kapila.
Constable kapila had asked the wife of constable Kabasiya to take a Television repairer who owed them money to the local court, this did not sit well with kabasiya as he wanted the TV repairer to be taught a lesson.
Police Spokesperson Esther Katongo said brief facts concerning Mr Kapila’s shooting according to eye witnesses were that the suspect Kabasiya and wife had a television set which needed to be repaired and later be sold.
Ms Katongo said the television set was taken to a named technician (tv repairer) within Kaunda Square and after some days, the technician paid a deposit of K500 remaining with a balance.
“However, on January 4, 2019 at around 20:00 hours, the wife to Kabasiya went to Munali Police Post to have the technician arrested because it had taken some time for him to pay the balance.
“She found Mr Kapila on duty who advised her to take civil litigation because the matter was civil, but the woman insisted that the technician be arrested. Mr Kapila stood his ground and Kabasiya’s wife left. A few minutes later, Constable Kabasiya appeared at Munali Police Post in uniform armed with an AK47 rifle,” she said.
Ms Katongo said he wanted to confirm if the technician was detained and he proceeded to check in the cells and in the Arrest and Prisoner’s Property Book (APPB) and he did not find the name of the technician.
She said then Kabasiya went outside where Mr Kapila was standing and started pestering him about the whereabouts of the technician, but Kapila told him that they had not arrested him.
“Kabasiya insisted and started threatening Mr Kapila that he was going to shoot him and he later fired the gun. The suspect is still on the run and a manhunt has continued,” she said.
