The criminals that killed a city councillor last week while jogging likely tracked him by following his social media updates about the exercise, police have said, citing preliminary findings.
The revelation, if confirmed, illuminates the security risk that online activity poses to netizens.
James Kakooza was a city division councillor representing Kamwokya parish and unknown assailants waylaid him on the edge of Centenary Park in central Kampala on Saturday and reportedly struck him on the head with an object, leaving him dead.
Whereas a suspect has been taken into custody, the motive of the killing and the identities of the killers remain unknown. Two suspects are reportedly on the run.
Kakooza was a resident of Kamwokya 2 B, Kamwokya Church Zone Central Division, Kampala.
The scene of crime officers recovered two mobile phones from his body. The police haven’t yet established whether Kakooza had other property on him or not before the attack.
Detectives investigating the case have linked the attack to the deceased’s real-time updates about his planned physical exercise which they believe some outlaws after his life exploited.
“When he (Kakooza) woke up in the morning, he posted [a message] on one of the community social media platforms [that] he was going out for the road run and this alerted the criminals, if they were on the same [WhatsApp] group,” Police spokesman Fred Enanga said yesterday.
He did not provide evidence directly linking the WhatsApp message to the attack, or render an explanation why investigators believe that to be the case.
