Drunk soldier kills Indian engineer in Amolatar 

Amolatar | Thirumalesh Itikala, an Indian site engineer and manager working on a water construction site in Amolatar, has died.

Itikala died aged 41. He was working for Royal Velko Joint Venture Ltd. A UPDF soldier named Private Tolit James Opio, 38, shot him dead on Friday morning.

Opio shot dead Itikala at around 9:30 am in Mbiko cell, Aweipeko parish, Namasale town council.

An eyewitness, Holiver Apio, claimed that the soldier awoke drunk and began making noise while searching for his colleagues.

He threatened to shoot anyone he found, Apio told tndNews.

After failing to locate his fellow UPDF soldiers, he was overheard threatening to “kill everyone around”, Apio added.

A few minutes later, he shot Itikala three times in the chest.

Meanwhile, Itikala was rushed to Amolatar Health Centre IV, where he was pronounced dead shortly.

tndNews was told by local people that the soldier had complained several times about sleeping in the coolness while his bosses sleep and earn millions more than him.

Additionally, the deceased UPDF soldier is said to have first fled to Dokolo, where he was apprehended and returned to Amolatar by his superiors.

What Police say…

SP According to Jimmy Patrick Okema, PRO of the North Kyoga Region, the territorial police of Amolatar have registered a double murder case by shooting.

Private Tolit was deployed at the Royal Velko Joint Venture Ltd site and was a member of the Namasale infantry detachment, according to SP Okema. He reported back to work on October 1, 2024.

Tolit allegedly went to a disco in a nearby trading centre on October 3, 2024, and returned drunk on October 4, 2024, around 4 a.m.

“… Tolit came in front of the manager’s (Itikala) office and found him talking on the phone; he shot him in the chest and then left through the site’s main gate for about 50 meters before shooting himself in the neck and dying instantly,” SP Okema stated.

“This is a sad and unfortunate incident; we urge supervisors at all workplaces to always engage staff or security personnel assigned to provide protection to listen to their concerns and act accordingly,” Okema stated.