By Hou Akot Hou
Police in Madhol Payam of Aweil East County, Northern Bahr El Ghazal State in South Sudan, are holding two deaf persons on theft allegations.
The two suspects, identified as Garang and Aken, were arrested on Tuesday at Dokul Boma, Madhol Payam, with two rams tied to the carrier of their motorcycle.
Deputy police inspector in Madhol Payam, Lual Thou, told this outlet on Tuesday that he intercepted the duo at Dokul, on his return home from County Headquarters, Wanyjok.
The inspector said that he got the two young men having an encounter with the residents over the rams tied to their motorbike.
According to Thou, as he intervened to interrogate the two suspects on where they were heading, instead they attempted to flee.
The police inspector said he then frightened the suspects as if he was firing bullets in order to prevent them from escaping.
“I got the two men with hearing impairment (dumb). They just told me the rams belong to them, but they are known for being thieves,” said the deputy police inspector.
“So, it is my first time to get two dumbs and deaf stealing together. This is something (thievery) affecting society, and it has to be curtailed at all costs,” Lual noted.
The officer immediately called the police at Madhol, who dispatched the team that picked up the two suspects.
He added that the two are now in police custody, undergoing an investigation.
Lual appealed to the members of the public to be vigilant, saying cases of livestock thefts have been on the rise.
He asserts that it could be due to the economic downfall being faced by almost every citizen in the country.
Residents in the Payam say a new illicit enterprise has been initiated by young people recently in which some prosperous traders buy goats from peasants through unofficial transactions.